Subject: Re: bug#52782: Man Page: Incorrect Summary of --color Option

From: Paul Eggert <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 24 Dec 2021 15:28:01 -0800

On 12/24/21 10:40, Pranab Lawrence Ekka Dasgupta wrote:
> Perhaps it could be reworded to "default if WHEN is omitted", although
> that does cause some repetition

Thanks, I gave that sort of thing a shot by installing the attached, and 
am closing the bug report.

From 2269ea5aa2b8579ed2ec22407f55de4fd7218e4b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Paul Eggert <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 24 Dec 2021 15:25:29 -0800
Subject: [PATCH] ls: improve doc for =WHEN

* src/ls.c (usage): Improve clarity of =WHEN args (Bug#52782).
---
 src/ls.c | 16 +++++++---------
 1 file changed, 7 insertions(+), 9 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/ls.c b/src/ls.c
index c350787b6..d6c7302dc 100644
--- a/src/ls.c
+++ b/src/ls.c
@@ -5424,18 +5424,13 @@ Sort entries alphabetically if none of -cftuvSUX nor --sort is specified.\n\
 "), stdout);
       fputs (_("\
   -C                         list entries by columns\n\
-      --color[=WHEN]         color the output; WHEN can be 'always' (default\
-\n\
-                               if omitted), 'auto', or 'never'; more info below\
-\n\
+      --color[=WHEN]         color the output WHEN; more info below\n\
   -d, --directory            list directories themselves, not their contents\n\
   -D, --dired                generate output designed for Emacs' dired mode\n\
 "), stdout);
       fputs (_("\
   -f                         list all entries in directory order\n\
-  -F, --classify[=WHEN]      append indicator (one of */=>@|) to entries;\n\
-                               WHEN can be 'always' (default if omitted),\n\
-                               'auto', or 'never'\n\
+  -F, --classify[=WHEN]      append indicator (one of */=>@|) to entries WHEN\n\
       --file-type            likewise, except do not append '*'\n\
       --format=WORD          across -x, commas -m, horizontal -x, long -l,\n\
                                single-column -1, verbose -l, vertical -C\n\
@@ -5468,8 +5463,7 @@ Sort entries alphabetically if none of -cftuvSUX nor --sort is specified.\n\
                                (overridden by -a or -A)\n\
 "), stdout);
       fputs (_("\
-      --hyperlink[=WHEN]     hyperlink file names; WHEN can be 'always'\n\
-                               (default if omitted), 'auto', or 'never'\n\
+      --hyperlink[=WHEN]     hyperlink file names WHEN\n\
 "), stdout);
       fputs (_("\
       --indicator-style=WORD  append indicator with style WORD to entry names:\
@@ -5563,6 +5557,10 @@ Also the TIME_STYLE environment variable sets the default style to use.\n\
 "), stdout);
       fputs (_("\
 \n\
+The WHEN argument defaults to 'always' and can also be 'auto' or 'never'.\n\
+"), stdout);
+      fputs (_("\
+\n\
 Using color to distinguish file types is disabled both by default and\n\
 with --color=never.  With --color=auto, ls emits color codes only when\n\
 standard output is connected to a terminal.  The LS_COLORS environment\n\
-- 
2.32.0