Stuart Prescott writes ("Bug#741573: Two menu systems"):
> On Fri, 11 Apr 2014 21:04:12 Ian Jackson wrote:
> > I don't imagine you're proposing changing the wording of the sections
> > of policy on doc-base entries, manpages, etc. to "may".
>
> Indeed I am not proposing that. I believe those are things that the
> maintainer should provide as part of the package.
Then in disagree. But I think I disagree with you about manpages more
than I do about menu entries.
In practice the archive is absolutely full of programs without
manpages and it doesn't make sense to insist that every maintainer
preparing a package should also write a manpage.
Writing manpages is a lot of work, and is also a distinct skill that
many packages don't necessarily have. (The mechanisms for trying to
generate manpages automatically are fragile and unpleasant and
generate rather poor output, so that's not really an answer.)
The upshot is that we don't currently insist that maintainers provide
manpages. I have never been criticised by anyone for uploading or
sponsoring anything with missing manpages. I don't think anyone else
should be criticised for that. (Of course sometimes people have filed
bugs providing manpages, which is very welcome.)
Ian.
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