Re: the bad effect of tables on msgids

On Thu, Apr 02, 2026 at 03:38:39PM +0200, Benno Schulenberg wrote:
> 
> Op 24-03-2026 om 16:49 schreef Benno Schulenberg:
> > [...]  changing simple lists to tables 1) more than triples the space that
> > the information takes up on the manpage, making it less easily digestible,
> > AND 2) makes it harder to translate.  I don't see any advantages to using
> > tables.  If there are any, please enlighten me.
> 
> Ping?

I have no strong opinion about it. For me, as a user, it is important
to have data in man pages structured and easy to navigate without
reading large paragraphs.

As a maintainer, I'd like to keep translators happy, which means
having text in chunks that are readable and in an easy-to-manage
format to avoid formatting bugs during translations.

> > If there are no advantages to using tables instead of lists, please
> > revert to using lists for simple "tabular" listings of information.

If you see a way to make things usable for others with a list, go ahead.

    Karel

-- 
 Karel Zak  <[email protected]>
 http://karelzak.blogspot.com