GNU bug report logs - #9896
ln man page ambiguity

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Message #24 received at 9896 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Paul Eggert <eggert <at> cs.ucla.edu>
To: Jim Meyering <jim <at> meyering.net>
Cc: 9896 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, Michael J Daniel <michael.j.daniel <at> comcast.net>
Subject: Re: bug#9896: acknowledged by developer (Re: bug#9896: ln man page
	ambiguity)
Date: Sun, 20 Nov 2011 14:49:40 -0800

On 11/20/11 12:26, Jim Meyering wrote:
> ln is particularly confusing,

You can say that again!  I found Michael's comment helpful, even if we
can't satisfy every part of his request due to the need to make man
pages brief reference manuals rather than longwinded tutorials.

I suggest the following further changes, which follow his suggestions
(1) to remove the use of the never-defined term "references", and (2)
to define "destination" and use that definition systematically (we
weren't doing that for -n).

diff --git a/src/ln.c b/src/ln.c
index 88737ed..9f09933 100644
--- a/src/ln.c
+++ b/src/ln.c
@@ -345,6 +345,7 @@ In the 1st form, create a link to TARGET with the name LINK_NAME.\n\
 In the 2nd form, create a link to TARGET in the current directory.\n\
 In the 3rd and 4th forms, create links to each TARGET in DIRECTORY.\n\
 Create hard links by default, symbolic links with --symbolic.\n\
+By default, destinations (locations of new links) should not already exist.\n\
 When creating hard links, each TARGET must exist.  Symbolic links\n\
 can hold arbitrary text; if later resolved, a relative link is\n\
 interpreted in relation to its parent directory.\n\
@@ -363,9 +364,9 @@ Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options too.\n\
 "), stdout);
       fputs (_("\
   -i, --interactive           prompt whether to remove destinations\n\
-  -L, --logical               make hard links to symbolic link references\n\
-  -n, --no-dereference        treat destination that is a symlink to a\n\
-                                directory as if it were a normal file\n\
+  -L, --logical               dereference TARGETs that are symbolic links\n\
+  -n, --no-dereference        treat LINK_NAME as a normal file if\n\
+                                it is a symbolic link to a directory\n\
   -P, --physical              make hard links directly to symbolic links\n\
   -s, --symbolic              make symbolic links instead of hard links\n\
 "), stdout);
@@ -373,7 +374,7 @@ Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options too.\n\
   -S, --suffix=SUFFIX         override the usual backup suffix\n\
   -t, --target-directory=DIRECTORY  specify the DIRECTORY in which to create\n\
                                 the links\n\
-  -T, --no-target-directory   treat LINK_NAME as a normal file\n\
+  -T, --no-target-directory   treat LINK_NAME as a normal file always\n\
   -v, --verbose               print name of each linked file\n\
 "), stdout);
       fputs (HELP_OPTION_DESCRIPTION, stdout);

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