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| titletext = For even more info, see blarbl(2)(3) and birb(3ahhaha I'm kidding, just Google it like a normal person. | | titletext = For even more info, see blarbl(2)(3) and birb(3ahhaha I'm kidding, just Google it like a normal person. | ||
}} | }} | ||
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
− | + | {{incomplete|The two synopsis lines has not been explained, including the fact that there seems to be missing ending "]" and "}" in both lines (although taken together as one line they actually have the correct amount of brackets, but that would not make sense - I guess?) Someone seems to think the explanation for the copyright is lacking and has left a [text in square bracket] above that explanation. Please imrpove of delete that text if explanation now OK. Needs fact-checking of the table etc.}} | |
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− | + | This comic shows a {{w|Unix}} manual page, i.e. a ''{{w|man page}}'' (hence the title), for a fictional program called "blerp". It details the command line options for this program, many of which are strange, annoying, or even impossible. These options are in alphabetical order (putting lower case before upper case and with an em-dash inserted between b and c the only exception to this order). | |
− | + | Unix man pages are meant to provide a brief reference on the usage of a command, not verbose and well-written explanations as you may find in manuals which is another common type of documentation. This fictional man page seems to exaggerate its crypticness, thus making fun of a common trait that many man pages have. | |
− | {{w|Command-line_interface#Command-line_option|Command-line options}}, also known as flags, are typed | + | {{w|Command-line_interface#Command-line_option|Command-line options}}, also known as flags, are typed following a program name to change how the program runs. The following is an example usage. |
<code>blerp -a -d -t -p "AVIGNON"</code> | <code>blerp -a -d -t -p "AVIGNON"</code> | ||
− | + | This would run blerp in attack mode, outputting to DEBUG.EXE, with tumble dry, and with POPE set to AVIGNON. In most cases, any number of flags can be used in any order, and applicable flags can be followed by arguments (such as "AVIGNON" in this example). | |
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− | + | For a walk through of all possible flags see the [[#Table|table]] below. | |
− | + | Below the flags there are a ''see also'' list with other stupid program names. Appart from two more blerbs there is also blirb, blarb and blorb, with chapter references. The last blorp(501)(c)(3) is not a valid chapter reference for a man page, it is however a slightly covert reference to 501(c)(3) which is an organization that is tax-exempt{{Citation needed}}. | |
− | Then follows a bug report site. | + | Then follows a bug report site, http://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/46644-Hemiptera, which isn't a currently active webpage. inaturalist.org is a site working to extend biological research, and http://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/47744-Hemiptera does work and points to the same page as http://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/Hemiptera. {{w|Hemiptera}} is the order classifying True Bugs, making it the perfect place to report any new bug you have discovered... |
− | + | [Copyright is a mishmash, "or best offer" is humourous, needs better explanation of individual parts.] | |
− | " | + | Finnaly there is a "{{w|copyright}}" line which references several variously open-source content licenses; For instance {{w|GNU General Public License}} like {{w|GNU_General_Public_License#Version_2|GPL 2}} and {{w|GNU_General_Public_License#Version_3|GPL 3}}, {{w|creative commons}}, and {{w|BSD licenses}} are mentioned. "LIKE GECKO" is a reference to a web browser user-agent string; modern user-agent strings include a lot of text designed to let the browser pretend to be several different browsers/renderers, and "(like Gecko)" is the standard text for a browser that wants to be treated as if it were {{w|Gecko (software)|Gecko}} while admitting, if you look closely, that it isn't really Gecko. This copyright line, which includes a lot of mashed-together text that might appear to match any of several different licenses, resembles a user-agent string. |
− | + | "OR BEST OFFER" is a reference to an auction where the person who bids the highest gets to buy the item. In context, it suggest the person who has the highest offer for blerp will be sold the rights to the program. Since the other licenses mentioned would allow for free usage without paying royalties, it would usually be pointless to buy the rights to the program. | |
− | + | In the title text there is a list with even more info, again with crazy names like blarbl and birb. Again there are page references, but for the last the person writing this stops writing the reference and begins to laugh at who ever still reads this man page and telling them that he is kidding and suggest that they ''just Google it like a normal person''. Seems like [[Randall]] do not believe much in man pages anymore... The writer of this text thus also stops finishing the brackets as the ending ")" for the last chapter is missing. | |
− | ===Table | + | ===Table=== |
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{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
!Flag!!Description!!Explanation | !Flag!!Description!!Explanation | ||
|- | |- | ||
− | | -a||ATTACK MODE||This sounds like a command for a robot or something similar. Strange for a command line program. Possibly this is designed to break something? | + | | -a||ATTACK MODE||This sounds like a command for a robot or something similar. Strange for a command line program. Possibly this is designed to break something? |
|- | |- | ||
− | | -b||SUPPRESS BEES||Nonsensical option. This is a word play, meaning either to suppress | + | | -b||SUPPRESS BEES||Nonsensical option. This is a word play, meaning either to suppress [[wikipedia:Bee|Bee]]s (the insects) or the letter '''B'''. This is also a possible Discworld reference, as the long-term storage of the only recurring computer in the series is composed of bees |
|- | |- | ||
− | | -—||FLAGS USE EM DASHES||Command line options (flags) typically use | + | | -—||FLAGS USE EM DASHES||Command line options (flags) typically use [[wikipedia:Hyphen|hyphens]] (short horizontal lines largely used within words). [[wikipedia:Dash#Em_dash|Em dashes]] (longer, with the same length as the letter "m") can't easily be typed into a command line interface, so switching flags from hyphens to em dashes is excessively difficult and nonsensical. |
− | + | Also implies a paradox where if flags were to use em dashes, this flag itself would be invalid. | |
− | |||
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− | Also implies a paradox where if flags were to use em dashes, this flag would be invalid. | ||
|- | |- | ||
− | | -c||COUNT NUMBER OF ARGUMENTS||Most likely not useful | + | | -c||COUNT NUMBER OF ARGUMENTS||Most likely not useful. |
|- | |- | ||
− | | -d||PIPES OUTPUT TO DEBUG.EXE|| | + | | -d||PIPES OUTPUT TO DEBUG.EXE||[[wikipedia:DEBUG.EXE|DEBUG.EXE]] is the old 16-bit debugger that came with MS-DOS. On a Unix system it is much more likely that one would use the [[wikipedia:GNU debugger|GNU debugger]] (GDB). A debugger is usually called by calling the debugger with the program (or script) to be debugged as parameter. |
− | + | [[wikipedia:Pipeline (Unix)|Piping]] in Unix means that the output of one program serves as input for another program. | |
|- | |- | ||
− | | -D||DEPRECATED||Many programs contain legacy options to avoid breaking scripts that use them. While the option should still work, the documentation is changed to say "deprecated" to discourage further use. Eventually such options usually get removed. | + | | -D||DEPRECATED||Many programs contain legacy options to avoid breaking scripts that use them. While the option should still work, the documentation is changed to say "deprecated" to discourage further use. Eventually such options usually get removed. |
|- | |- | ||
| -e||EXECUTE SOMETHING||Vague. Also a possible pun on a kill-switch. | | -e||EXECUTE SOMETHING||Vague. Also a possible pun on a kill-switch. | ||
|- | |- | ||
− | | -f||FUN MODE||Strange and slightly ominous, given some of the other options | + | | -f||FUN MODE||Strange and slightly ominous, given some of the other options. See under -O. |
− | |||
|- | |- | ||
− | | -g||USE GOOGLE||As an actual program flag, a bit hackjob-ish, but it is possible it is telling the user to use Google to find out what this tag does | + | | -g||USE GOOGLE||As an actual program flag, a bit hackjob-ish, but it is possible it is telling the user to use Google to find out what this tag does. |
− | |||
|- | |- | ||
− | | -h||CHECK WHETHER INPUT HALTS|| | + | | -h||CHECK WHETHER INPUT HALTS||Completely impossible, by the Halting Theorem. [Wikipedia link, short explanation of why needed] |
− | |||
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|- | |- | ||
− | | -i||IGNORE CASE (LOWER)||Usually, ignoring case means that a program will run without differentiating between upper- and lowercase. This flag suggests that blerp will run ignoring all the lowercase characters completely, or ignoring all the uppercase characters with | + | | -i||IGNORE CASE (LOWER)||Usually, ignoring case means that a program will run without differentiating between upper- and lowercase. This flag suggests that blerp will run ignoring all the lowercase characters completely, or ignoring all the uppercase characters with -I. |
|- | |- | ||
− | | -I||IGNORE CASE (UPPER)||See above. Also possible that all text is converted to upper case, or that upper-case requirements only are ignored | + | | -I||IGNORE CASE (UPPER)||See above. Also possible that all text is converted to upper case, or that upper-case requirements only are ignored |
|- | |- | ||
− | | -jk||KIDDING||A common acronym | + | | -jk||KIDDING||A common acronym, not a program flag. Also note that standard behavior of Unix command line options is that a single "-" can be followed by multiple one-letter options, making -jk equivalent to -j -k. |
|- | |- | ||
− | | -n||BEHAVIOR NOT DEFINED|| | + | | -n||BEHAVIOR NOT DEFINED||Possibly mathematically ominous? Otherwise useless.(Possible debug/unstable feature flag) |
|- | |- | ||
− | | -o||OVERWRITE||Standard program flag, usually meaning that the program will overwrite a file rather than make a new one when data is output | + | | -o||OVERWRITE||Standard program flag, usually meaning that the program will overwrite a file rather than make a new one when data is output.May work strangely with -d. |
|- | |- | ||
− | | -O||OPPOSITE DAY||Strange flag, | + | | -O||OPPOSITE DAY||Strange flag, possibly means that all other flags (or maybe even including this one!) have the opposite effects - if so, a lot of strange things would happen. (Especially with -b, -e, -f, -jk, -O...) |
|- | |- | ||
− | | -p||SET TRUE POPE; ACCEPTS "ROME" OR "AVIGNON"||This refers to a | + | | -p||SET TRUE POPE; ACCEPTS "ROME" OR "AVIGNON"||This refers to a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Schism historical schism in the Catholic Church.] In the 14th century, the Pope briefly ruled from Avignon, France, instead of Rome. After the Papacy was returned to Rome in 1377, the Church split (the so-called Western Schism) as not everyone accepted the move and the Pople who ordered it. This flag apparently allows the user to select a preferred Pope. There is actually a possible feature request here, as "PISA", a third Pope, should also be an option. |
|- | |- | ||
− | | -q||QUIET MODE; OUTPUT IS PRINTED TO STDOUT INSTEAD OF BEING SPOKEN ALOUD||In most cases, a program will output basic information to the console, and running it in quiet mode will make it run without outputting anything. Blerp, on the other hand, | + | | -q||QUIET MODE; OUTPUT IS PRINTED TO STDOUT INSTEAD OF BEING SPOKEN ALOUD||In most cases, a program will output basic information to the console, and running it in quiet mode will make it run without outputting anything. Blerp, on the other hand, outputs information through audio, and the quiet flag causes it to run like a normal program. "STDOUT" is short for "standard output". |
|- | |- | ||
− | | -r||RANDOMIZE ARGUMENTS||Pointless and possibly damaging | + | | -r||RANDOMIZE ARGUMENTS||Pointless and possibly damaging. |
|- | |- | ||
− | | -R||RUN RECURSIVELY ON <nowiki>http://*</nowiki>||The star (*) symbol is often used as a wildcard to match any string of characters. "<nowiki>http://*</nowiki>" suggests that blerp will be run | + | | -R||RUN RECURSIVELY ON <nowiki>http://*</nowiki>||The star (*) symbol is often used as a wildcard to match any string of characters. "<nowiki>http://*</nowiki>" suggests that blerp will be run on every webpage on the internet, or on each page recursively. What it might do in order to make this valid is also ominous. |
|- | |- | ||
− | | -s||FOLLOW SYMBOLIC LINKS SYMBOLICALLY|| | + | | -s||FOLLOW SYMBOLIC LINKS SYMBOLICALLY||[Needs explanation of symbolic links] Many commands offer an option to follow filesystem links, this option however seems to suggest that it will only politely pretend to do so. |
|- | |- | ||
− | | -S||STEALTH MODE||Similar to -a, in that it sounds more like an option for some kind of robot | + | | -S||STEALTH MODE||Similar to -a, in that it sounds more like an option for some kind of robot. |
|- | |- | ||
− | | -t||TUMBLE DRY||Perhaps useful for a program that runs on a clothes dryer. Refers to [https://img1.etsystatic.com/000/0/5254504/il_570xN.184726893.jpg directions like these]. Many clothing items are marked "do not tumble dry" in the care instructions, but this would be extremely difficult to make relevant to a program. Given the other flags, this may be less nonsensical than it would first appear. | + | | -t||TUMBLE DRY||Perhaps useful for a program that runs on a clothes dryer. Refers to [https://img1.etsystatic.com/000/0/5254504/il_570xN.184726893.jpg directions like these]. Many clothing items are marked "do not tumble dry" in the care instructions, but this would be extremely difficult to make relevant to a program. Given the other flags, this may be less nonsensical than it would first appear.. |
|- | |- | ||
− | | -u||UTF-8 MODE; OTHERWISE DEFAULTS TO ANSEL|| | + | | -u||UTF-8 MODE; OTHERWISE DEFAULTS TO ANSEL||[[wikipedia:ANSEL|ANSEL]] is an old and obscure character encoding that predates ASCII. Using ANSEL as a default would be strange and largely incompatible with most modern systems. On the other hand, UTF-8 is rather standard. Similar in this regard to -q, blerp does something non-standard by default. |
|- | |- | ||
− | | -U||UPDATE (DEFAULT: FACEBOOK)||Update usually refers to replacing an old software with a newer version. The default here suggests posting a status update to Facebook, sourcing an update | + | | -U||UPDATE (DEFAULT: FACEBOOK)||Update usually refers to replacing an old software with a newer version. The default here suggests posting a status update to Facebook, sourcing an update form Facebook, or updating Facebook itself. |
|- | |- | ||
− | | -v||VERBOSE; ALIAS TO find / -exec cat {}||Almost standard flag, in ordinary programs the opposite of -q - instead of silencing output, it | + | | -v||VERBOSE; ALIAS TO find / -exec cat {}||Almost standard flag, in ordinary programs the opposite of -q - instead of silencing output, it makes it more specific, usually to help with debugging. Instead, this flag gets replaced with a command that prints the contents of all files in the filesystem tree. However, it will never complete, as certain device files never end (/dev/urandom contains random bytes). Note that the "find" command is missing <code>\;</code> and will not run, instead complaining <code>find: missing argument to `-exec'</code> . |
|- | |- | ||
− | | -V||SET VERSION NUMBER||Many programs will have a flag to view | + | | -V||SET VERSION NUMBER||Many programs will have a flag to view the version number. This flag changes the version number instead. |
|- | |- | ||
− | | -y||YIKES|| | + | | -y||YIKES||[[wiktionary:yikes|yikes]] is an interjection which can express fear or empathy with unpleasant or undesirable circumstances. It is unclear how this would influence the program. |
|} | |} | ||
==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
:[A terminal screen; the background is black and the text is white.] | :[A terminal screen; the background is black and the text is white.] | ||
− | + | :{| class="wikitable" | |
+ | |style="background-color:black;"|<font color="white"> | ||
;NAME | ;NAME | ||
:blerp | :blerp | ||
+ | |||
;SYNOPSIS | ;SYNOPSIS | ||
:blerp {[ OPTION | ARGS ]...[ ARGS ... -f [FLAGS] ...} | :blerp {[ OPTION | ARGS ]...[ ARGS ... -f [FLAGS] ...} | ||
:blerp {... DIRECTORY ... URL | BLERP} OPTIONS ] -{} | :blerp {... DIRECTORY ... URL | BLERP} OPTIONS ] -{} | ||
+ | |||
;DESCRIPTION | ;DESCRIPTION | ||
:blerp FILTERS LOCAL OR REMOTE FILES OR RESOURCES USING PATTERNS DEFINED BY ARGUMENTS AND ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES. THIS BEHAVIOR CAN BE ALTERED BY VARIOUS FLAGS. | :blerp FILTERS LOCAL OR REMOTE FILES OR RESOURCES USING PATTERNS DEFINED BY ARGUMENTS AND ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES. THIS BEHAVIOR CAN BE ALTERED BY VARIOUS FLAGS. | ||
+ | |||
;OPTIONS | ;OPTIONS | ||
− | :-a | + | :{| |
− | + | ! scope="row" | -a | |
− | + | | ATTACK MODE | |
− | + | |- | |
− | + | ! scope="row" | -b | |
− | + | | SUPPRESS BEES | |
− | + | |- | |
− | + | ! scope="row" | -— | |
− | + | | FLAGS USE EM DASHES | |
− | + | |- | |
− | + | ! scope="row" | -c | |
− | + | | COUNT NUMBER OF ARGUMENTS | |
− | + | |- | |
− | + | ! scope="row" | -d | |
− | + | | PIPES OUTPUT TO DEBUG.EXE | |
− | + | |- | |
− | + | ! scope="row" | -D | |
− | + | | DEPRECATED | |
− | + | |- | |
− | + | ! scope="row" | -e | |
− | + | | EXECUTE SOMETHING | |
− | + | |- | |
− | + | ! scope="row" | -f | |
− | + | | FUN MODE | |
− | + | |- | |
− | + | ! scope="row" | -g | |
− | + | | USE GOOGLE | |
− | + | |- | |
+ | ! scope="row" | -h | ||
+ | | CHECK WHETHER INPUT HALTS | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | ! scope="row" | -i | ||
+ | | IGNORE CASE (LOWER) | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | ! scope="row" | -I | ||
+ | | IGNORE CASE (UPPER) | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | ! scope="row" | -jk | ||
+ | | KIDDING | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | ! scope="row" | -n | ||
+ | | BEHAVIOR NOT DEFINED | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | ! scope="row" | -o | ||
+ | | OVERWRITE | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | ! scope="row" | -O | ||
+ | | OPPOSITE DAY | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | ! scope="row" | -p | ||
+ | | SET TRUE POPE; ACCEPTS "ROME" OR "AVIGNON" | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | ! scope="row" | -q | ||
+ | | QUIET MODE; OUTPUT IS PRINTED TO STDOUT INSTEAD OF BEING SPOKEN ALOUD | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | ! scope="row" | -r | ||
+ | | RANDOMIZE ARGUMENTS | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | ! scope="row" | -R | ||
+ | | RUN RECURSIVELY ON <nowiki>http://*</nowiki> | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | ! scope="row" | -s | ||
+ | | FOLLOW SYMBOLIC LINKS SYMBOLICALLY | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | ! scope="row" | -S | ||
+ | | STEALTH MODE | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | ! scope="row" | -t | ||
+ | | TUMBLE DRY | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | ! scope="row" | -u | ||
+ | | UTF-8 MODE; OTHERWISE DEFAULTS TO ANSEL | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | ! scope="row" | -U | ||
+ | | UPDATE (DEFAULT: FACEBOOK) | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | ! scope="row" | -v | ||
+ | | VERBOSE; ALIAS TO find / -exec cat {} | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | ! scope="row" | -V | ||
+ | | SET VERSION NUMBER | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | ! scope="row" | -y | ||
+ | | YIKES | ||
+ | |} | ||
+ | |||
;SEE ALSO | ;SEE ALSO | ||
:blerp(1), blerp(3), blirb(8), blarb(51) blorp(501)(c)(3) | :blerp(1), blerp(3), blirb(8), blarb(51) blorp(501)(c)(3) | ||
+ | |||
;BUG REPORTS | ;BUG REPORTS | ||
:<nowiki>http://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/47744-Hemiptera</nowiki> | :<nowiki>http://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/47744-Hemiptera</nowiki> | ||
+ | |||
;COPYRIGHT | ;COPYRIGHT | ||
:GPL(2)(3+) CC-BY/5.0 RV 41.0 LIKE GECKO/BSD 4(2) OR BEST OFFER | :GPL(2)(3+) CC-BY/5.0 RV 41.0 LIKE GECKO/BSD 4(2) OR BEST OFFER | ||
− | </ | + | </font> |
− | + | |} | |
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{{comic discussion}} | {{comic discussion}} | ||
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[[Category:Programming]] | [[Category:Programming]] | ||
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