GNU bug report logs - #10013
[ls] document origin of name

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From: Eric Blake <eblake <at> redhat.com>
To: Ian Bruntlett <ianbruntlett <at> hotmail.com>, 10013 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: bug#10013: man ls
Date: Thu, 10 Nov 2011 13:45:52 -0700

[re-adding the list, so that others may review]

On 11/10/2011 01:43 PM, Ian Bruntlett wrote:
>
> Hi Eric,
>
>> On 11/10/2011 11:22 AM, Ian Bruntlett wrote:
>>> Do you think it would be a worthwhile thing to let people know directly that ls is short for "list sorted"?
>>
>> I'm not sure whether modifying the .x templates to list historical
>> trivia is worth the effort for the man pages, but it would certainly be
>> worth mentioning this mnemonic in the info pages.  Would you care to
>> submit a patch?
>
> Not sure how to submit a patch but here goes...

Thanks for your attempt - this is a great example of diving in and 
proposing an alternative wording.

>
> Original text from info ls
>
> The `ls' program lists information about files (of any type, including
> directories).  Options and file arguments can be intermixed
> arbitrarily, as usual.
>
> Here is a possible improvement...
>
> This program, called ls, an abbreviation of "list sorted",  lists information about files (of any type, including
>
> directories).  Options and file arguments can be intermixed
>
> arbitrarily, as usual.

Reads a bit long.  Maybe:

The 'ls' program stands for "list sorted".  It lists information about 
files (of any type, including directories), typically in a sorted order. 
 Options and file arguments...

-- 
Eric Blake   eblake <at> redhat.com    +1-801-349-2682
Libvirt virtualization library http://libvirt.org

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