HELP (RPM - what package a file is from)

[Anne Wilson]

On Thursday 27 November 2008 16:34:13 Ralf Corsepius wrote:
>
>
> Well, like you'd do with any other program :)
>
> 1. consult a program's man-pages (man <program>)
>
> 2. consult a program's "help"
> GNU standard compliant programs issue it with "<program> --help".
> Others support "<program> -h", "<program> -H" or "<program> -?"
>
> 3. consult a program's "usage"
> Most programs issue it when being invoked with invalid arguments.
> In most cases, identical to what a program issues in its "help".
>
> 4. look into /usr/share/doc/<package>
>
> 5. dig the net.
>
>
> Finally, in case it isn't obvious, while reading documentation, one
> should try to develop (at least) a basic understanding how a program
> works. Without this, understanding a complex low-level tool's CLI, such
> as rpm, is hardly possible.
>
Yes, it all sounds very grand, doesn't it.  But if all my efforts to 
understand it, over a period of more than 6 years, have failed, there is 
something not too smart about the situation.  Why does the 'help' for rpm give 
so many options that appear not to work at all?  Why do we find something that 
appears to work - for a time - then doesn't any more?  You tell me how anyone 
is supposed to sort the wood from the trees in that help file.

I suspect that the man pages and help file haven't been updated for years.

Anne

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