GNU bug report logs - #52782
Man Page: Incorrect Summary of --color Option

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Message #8 received at 52782 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Paul Eggert <eggert <at> cs.ucla.edu>
To: Pranab Lawrence Ekka Dasgupta <pranabekka <at> gmail.com>, 52782 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#52782: Man Page: Incorrect Summary of --color Option
Date: Fri, 24 Dec 2021 09:52:40 -0800

[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]

On 12/24/21 07:11, Pranab Lawrence Ekka Dasgupta wrote:
> The summary of the `--color` option incorrectly states that the default
> option is 'always', whereas it functions otherwise

It sounds like you misunderstood the man page. It says that 
--color[=WHEN] means "colorize the output; WHEN can be 'always' (default 
if omitted), 'auto', or 'never'". The phrase "if omitted" refers to when 
you use plain "--colorize", not to when you don't use "--colorize" at 
all. The same wording is used to document  --classify[=WHEN], 
--hyperlink[=WHEN].

I suppose we could reword the man page to avoid this potential confusion 
in --color, --classify and --hyperlink. However, I don't see how to do 
that without adding so much wording that the cost would likely exceed 
the benefit. Perhaps some other wordsmith could chip in.

In the meantime I noticed that the documentation uses the word 
"colorize" when it should say "color", so I installed the attached.

[0001-doc-colorize-color.patch (text/x-patch, attachment)]

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