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Re: Modernizing Documentation format?



hello Clinton,

On Mon, Aug 18, 2025 at 05:58:22PM -0500, Clinton Bunch wrote:
> I have gotten some ideas for converting our YODL (and Intro.ms) to
> reStructuredText which requires some python modules (sphinx, rst2pdf)

This feels weird to me so I share about it

* the only person using rst around me just hate it :)
* You don't need you system to support html and pdf: roff does it for
  you (also postscript)
* don't you think the natural format for a unix shell should be the unix
  typesetting system?
* will we loose semantic using RST?

also: installing the whole python thing just to fix typos could be a bit
boring.

I started to use [mandoc](https://mandoc.bsd.lv/)
(from the openBSD project, with people related
to GNU troff project) and I really like the fact that:

* the troff syntax is simple, yet powerful enough and extendable
* the mandoc requests add semantic to everything we need (flags,
  subcommands, parameters, ...) which appears in output formats
  (give a look at https://man.openbsd.org/)

> Sphinx will generate man, html, pdf, and texi formats from rst

which is complete redundant with man format.

> rst is not too step of a learning curve and is the de facto standard for
> python documentation.

mandoc is weird in the first hours but it's worth it because now I
realize how simple manpages are simple to read. plus: troff is blazing
fast and I started to use it instead of latex.

> Any interest in seeing if I can get something usable converting the format
> of record?

removing yodl is a good thing (thanks for coming with this topic) but I
have the feeling you're just replacing one problem with another one.

regards

-- 
Marc Chantreux
Pôle CESAR (Calcul et services avancés à la recherche)
Université de Strasbourg
14 rue René Descartes,
BP 80010, 67084 STRASBOURG CEDEX
03.68.85.60.79

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