Subject: Re: [bug-diffutils] bug#48532: [PATCH] diff: clarify defaults for --color

From: Paul Eggert <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 21 May 2021 00:13:23 -0700

Thanks for the report about the confusing wording. I installed the 
attached, which avoids the tricky word "default" entirely.
>From ffb75e3b0c94ab7063c063b58408844f7b85efc6 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Paul Eggert <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 21 May 2021 00:11:06 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] diff: better --color help
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* src/diff.c (option_help_msgid): Reword --color help without
using the confusing word “default”.  Problem reported
by Peter Oliver (Bug#48532).
---
 src/diff.c | 4 ++--
 1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/diff.c b/src/diff.c
index 6af50e8..9938daa 100644
--- a/src/diff.c
+++ b/src/diff.c
@@ -973,8 +973,8 @@ static char const * const option_help_msgid[] = {
   N_("-d, --minimal            try hard to find a smaller set of changes"),
   N_("    --horizon-lines=NUM  keep NUM lines of the common prefix and suffix"),
   N_("    --speed-large-files  assume large files and many scattered small changes"),
-  N_("    --color[=WHEN]       colorize the output; WHEN can be 'never', 'always',\n"
-     "                           or 'auto' (the default)"),
+  N_("    --color[=WHEN]       color output; WHEN is 'never', 'always', or 'auto';\n"
+     "                           plain --color means --color='auto'"),
   N_("    --palette=PALETTE    the colors to use when --color is active; PALETTE is\n"
      "                           a colon-separated list of terminfo capabilities"),
   "",
-- 
2.27.0