[Xfce-i18n] Xfce-power-manager: Is this an error?

[Ali Abdallah]

Brian J. Tarricone wrote:
> Christian Dywan wrote:
>   
>> Am Tue, 04 Nov 2008 11:10:35 -0800
>> schrieb "Brian J. Tarricone" <kelnos at xfce.org>:
>>
>>     
>>> Christian Dywan wrote:
>>>       
>>>> Am Mon, 3 Nov 2008 23:30:02 -0800
>>>> schrieb "Brian J. Tarricone" <kelnos at xfce.org>:
>>>>
>>>>         
>>>>> On Tue, 04 Nov 2008 08:32:05 +0200 Besnik Bleta wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>           
>>>>>> Hello,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Could anybody confirm that the following is correct:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> \n
>>>>>> Usage: xfce-power-manager [options] \n
>>>>>> \n
>>>>>> Options:\n
>>>>>> -h, --help       Print this help message and exit\n
>>>>>> -v, --version    Print this help message and exit\n
>>>>>> -r, --run        Start xfce power manager\n
>>>>>> -c, --customize  Show Configuration dialog\n
>>>>>> -q, --quit       Quit any running xfce power manager\n
>>>>>> \n
>>>>>>
>>>>>> or -h and -v options are doubling each other?
>>>>>>             
>>>>> Yeah that's probably wrong...  Also, Ali, the standard short option
>>>>> for --version is -V, not -v.  You'd use -v for 'verbose'.
>>>>>           
>>>> That is not true. -v can mean --verbose but it does actually mean
>>>> --version in lots of applications, including famous ones like Thunar
>>>> and Terminal.
>>>>         
>>> Then Thunar and Terminal should be fixed.  Look at any GNU app and 
>>> you'll see that -V is the standard for version, -v for verbose.
>>>       
>> That is still but a whishful thought. -v is --version in lots of other
>> applications, and no less standard than the alternative.
>>     
>
> Actually, that's not true.  I just grepped through the man pages on my 
> system, and I came up with 49 clear cases of -V as version, and only 9 
> of -v as version.  I was a bit overly restrictive in my regex, so I'm 
> sure I miss a bunch on both sides of the issue, but the law of averages 
> seems to suggest the proportion here isn't completely off.
>
>   
>> Compare to the usage of --help, -? and -h. You will have even less luck
>> with suggesting that any of those is 'standard'
>>     
>
> Not relevant.  We're talking about two short options that can mean two 
> different things (-V and -v, version and verbose).  --help is always 
> help.  -? is always help.  -h is almost always help.  There's no 
> confusion here, aside from apps that just don't accept one or the other. 
> Notable exceptions are -h in 'df', 'du', 'ls', etc.  But I've never seen 
> an app use --help or -? for anything other than help.
>
> Relevant point: I'm making an executive decision: Xfce core apps shall 
> use -V to mean --version, and -v to mean --verbose.  Obviously goodies 
> can do what they want, but I'd urge them to follow this convention as well.
>
>   
I believe goodies should always follow exactly what is done in Xfce 
core, those applications and plugins are developed for Xfce, and they 
should follow the same conventions.


Best Regards,
Ali.