Date: Mon, 08 Sep 2014 16:48:00 -0500 From: Bryan Drewery <bdrewery@FreeBSD.org> To: Warren Block <wblock@wonkity.com> Cc: freebsd-arch@FreeBSD.org Subject: Re: /etc/motd summary Message-ID: <540E2410.30404@FreeBSD.org> In-Reply-To: <alpine.BSF.2.11.1409081519070.43238@wonkity.com> References: <alpine.BSF.2.11.1409081223060.15689@wonkity.com> <540E18ED.1070003@FreeBSD.org> <alpine.BSF.2.11.1409081519070.43238@wonkity.com>
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
This is an OpenPGP/MIME signed message (RFC 4880 and 3156) --6MlkGhRbEDuBaicX6bNUw75QCw73acbKi Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable On 9/8/2014 4:38 PM, Warren Block wrote: > On Mon, 8 Sep 2014, Bryan Drewery wrote: >=20 >> On 9/8/2014 2:08 PM, Warren Block wrote: >>> Summarizing the responses and changes to /etc/motd: >>> >>> Using ANSI has both philosphical and practical problems, and should= be >>> avoided. In short, it has cooties. >>> >>> Extra horizontal whitespace is the least likely to cause problems a= s >>> command delimiters, and inoffensive to most responders. Rearrangin= g >>> the information into a list of URLs is a net win. >>> >>> Shorter is better. A simpler motd that links to a single web page >>> might be acceptable. >>> >>> My suggestions: >>> >>> Short-term: >>> >>> Here is the most popular/least objectionable version with all of the >>> suggestions implemented as best I could: >>> >>> http://www.wonkity.com/~wblock/motd/motd.whitespace-url >> >> For other languages, replace "en" with a language code like de or fr.= >> >> Should de and fr also be quoted? >=20 > That was intentional. The "en" being the part that the user is to > replace, there is no ambiguity with those quotes--they don't exist in > the source. With the de and fr, no quotes are shown so the user is not= > tempted to enter them, and the de alone shows that the final period > after fr is not part of the language code. >=20 >> I don't mean to bikeshed on this but I find the spaced commands >> confusing. I find quoted commands more readable: >> >> Please include the output of 'uname -a' and any relevant error >> messages... >> Use 'man man' for an introduction to manual pages. 'man hier' >> describes the. >> >> or `cmd` or `cmd' >=20 > Right, but you are used to the conventions. The idea here is to only > show the reader what they have to type* without forcing them to interpr= et. >=20 > % 'uname -a' > uname -a: Command not found. > % 'man man' > man man: Command not found. > % `man hier` > Unknown user: ftp;. > % `man hier' > Unmatched `. >=20 > The third one is particularly intriguing. >=20 > [*: admittedly, we are not telling them that they have to press Enter. > There is just not enough space for a quick intro on entering CLI > commands. But we could have one on a "FreeBSD Support Links" page.] I understand what you're saying, although I've never had someone complain to me that they ran 'cmd' literally. On the other hand, the spaces are very unclear that it is even a command that can be ran in 'man man' and 'man hier' uses. The old motd has `cmd' syntax. --=20 Regards, Bryan Drewery --6MlkGhRbEDuBaicX6bNUw75QCw73acbKi Content-Type: application/pgp-signature; name="signature.asc" Content-Description: OpenPGP digital signature Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="signature.asc" -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.10 (MingW32) iQEcBAEBAgAGBQJUDiQRAAoJEDXXcbtuRpfPryMH/1+/7QmAWT1I825Uf7rbr65J GgsULkDOKlK9auwv9T+a+h1r01QfxqERUF2hLF+C3/jfC2dVQoHybe/jV4eXEyuZ aJnbED5CjewAwJ2chitMRGzgB03EHVAHTachL+48+MajtSNR4S7qfyWXAkdNPl8Z sheegjGGUB4SdNTBW8af9ZOmW1YU476RZSXJDv+AiVrua+umUg2LVFpm00tH17/L U0UgAXqbvgAWQBWh5+/GGAY+9hybtUOFfJQ81W+E95j3UGFT2Wfk2HDTOv7fB5ME UCM4gBqPg9vhvpcbYpy80PskWPA1r/Ts0ckk3ySGtGs1OxGxCzMtSIflhyN5gxg= =S+Gy -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- --6MlkGhRbEDuBaicX6bNUw75QCw73acbKi--
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?540E2410.30404>