Re: card.1: Some remarks and editorial changes for this man page

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On Sat, 7 Dec 2024 at 07:23, Bjarni Ingi Gislason <[email protected]>
wrote:

>   Already done.
>

Great!

But when will a new version of help2man be available.
>

No idea. Looking at ftp.gnu.org, development seems to have stopped in the
last couple of years, as releases were quite frequent from 2018-2022, but
the most recent release was two years ago now.

And when will man page producers use that version?
>

I can't speak for others, but except when there's an urgent bug fix in a
dependency (and I wouldn't class this bug as urgent to fix), I use the
tools provided by my distro, which I update every 2 years. The version of
help2man that gets into a distro will be maybe 6-12 months older than the
release date. So on average, it might take 18-36 months between the fix and
my getting my hands on the new version of help2man. After that, it would
depend how long it was until the next release of any particular project.

Personally, I tend to look at projects I maintain once a year or so even if
I am not actively developing them, to see if there are any fixes of this
sort I can make.

Anyway, my attitude to these sorts of bug is that it doesn't really matter
how long the fix takes to percolate; it will eventually, and at that point
someone can notice and remove the upstream workaround, maybe in 5-10 years.
In the mean time, it's causing a little bit of work, but it's not a serious
problem.

-- 
https://rrt.sc3d.org

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<div dir=3D"ltr"><div dir=3D"ltr"><div class=3D"gmail_quote"><div dir=3D"lt=
r" class=3D"gmail_attr">On Sat, 7 Dec 2024 at 07:23, Bjarni Ingi Gislason &=
lt;<a href=3D"mailto:[email protected]" target=3D"_blank">bjarniig@simnet.=
is</a>&gt; wrote:<br></div><blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"margi=
n:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex=
">=C2=A0 Already done.<br></blockquote><div><br></div><div><div style=3D"fo=
nt-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small" class=3D"gmail_defaul=
t">Great!</div><br></div><blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"margin:=
0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
But when will a new version of help2man be available.<br></blockquote><div>=
<br></div><div><div style=3D"font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-si=
ze:small" class=3D"gmail_default">No idea. Looking at <a href=3D"http://ftp=
.gnu.org" target=3D"_blank">ftp.gnu.org</a>, development seems to have stop=
ped in the last couple of years, as releases were quite frequent from 2018-=
2022, but the most recent release was two years ago now.<br></div><br></div=
><blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border=
-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">

And when will man page producers use that version?<br>
</blockquote></div><div><br></div><div><div style=3D"font-family:arial,helv=
etica,sans-serif;font-size:small" class=3D"gmail_default">I can&#39;t speak=
 for others, but except when there&#39;s an urgent bug fix in a dependency =
(and I wouldn&#39;t class this bug as urgent to fix), I use the tools provi=
ded by my distro, which I update every 2 years. The version of help2man tha=
t gets into a distro will be maybe 6-12 months older than the release date.=
 So on average, it might take 18-36 months between the fix and my getting m=
y hands on the new version of help2man. After that, it would depend how lon=
g it was until the next release of any particular project.</div><div style=
=3D"font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small" class=3D"gmail_=
default"><br></div><div style=3D"font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;fon=
t-size:small" class=3D"gmail_default">Personally, I tend to look at project=
s I maintain once a year or so even if I am not actively developing them, t=
o see if there are any fixes of this sort I can make.</div><div style=3D"fo=
nt-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small" class=3D"gmail_defaul=
t"><br></div><div style=3D"font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size=
:small" class=3D"gmail_default">Anyway, my attitude to these sorts of bug i=
s that it doesn&#39;t really matter how long the fix takes to percolate; it=
 will eventually, and at that point someone can notice and remove the upstr=
eam workaround, maybe in 5-10 years. In the mean time, it&#39;s causing a l=
ittle bit of work, but it&#39;s not a serious problem.<br></div></div><br><=
span class=3D"gmail_signature_prefix">-- </span><br><div dir=3D"ltr" class=
=3D"gmail_signature"><div dir=3D"ltr"><div><div dir=3D"ltr"><a href=3D"http=
s://rrt.sc3d.org" target=3D"_blank">https://rrt.sc3d.org</a></div></div></d=
iv></div></div>
</div>

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