{"slug": "man", "name": "man", "category": "terminal", "category_name": "Terminal and shell", "description": "", "recommenders": 3, "commenters": 4, "warners": 1, "score": 1.625, "rising": -0.98, "first": "2025-12-01", "latest": "2026-03-11", "why": "for a lot of linux things these 2 utils / commands are good", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 3, "neutral": 0, "compare": 0, "warn": 1}, "spark": [0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "for a lot of linux things these 2 utils / commands are good", "kind": "", "icon": false, "domain": "die.net", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["man"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 753468800, "item_id": 47091800, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47091800", "by": "shikaan", "date": "2026-02-20", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I ended up using vanilla man again.", "excerpt": "I have played with that idea for a while until I realized I was creating a poor man's web browser in the terminal. At that point I started wondering if converting my man folder to HTML and using lynx[1] wasn't a better idea. I ended up using vanilla man again. Are there better/fancier manpage readers out there that can change my mind? [1]: https://lynx.invisible-island.net/current/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Notes on Clarifying Man Pages"}, {"id": 743545233, "item_id": 46471577, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46471577", "by": "somat", "date": "2026-01-02", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "why the technologically superior solution sort of lost to the stupider simpler man pages", "excerpt": "One of the more obscure things OpenBSD man does is provide tags to the pager(less). So you can do things like \":t test\" in man ksh and end up right at that section. However while I think the feature is neat, a clever use of an existing feature, I never use it. I think it is sort of the same as info pages and why the technologically superior solution sort of lost to the stupider simpler man pages. Having a simple unif", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Assorted Less(1) Tips"}, {"id": 737713792, "item_id": 46107112, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46107112", "by": "123malware321", "date": "2025-12-01", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "for a lot of linux things these 2 utils / commands are good", "excerpt": "https://linux.die.net/man/1/man https://linux.die.net/man/1/info for a lot of linux things these 2 utils / commands are good, if pages are available etc. etc. - i prefer info in there to any online docs. ofcourse, that doesn't include things 'on linux' but not linux, unless they are installed and include for example man pages (a lot of things do this actually, which is nice.) know its not like devdocs perhaps but its", "context": "", "use_case": "offline Linux docs", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Linux offline knowledge base app?"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 757408512, "item_id": 47338032, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47338032", "by": "fcloud", "date": "2026-03-11", "version": null, "stance": "warn", "quote": "\"man\" the tool does have issues, and one of them bit me just now.", "excerpt": "I intended to post in defense of manpages. I love manpages. I think most open-source manpages are high-quality, and a few are really outstanding. \"It's easier to ask an AI\" can be true without implying that manpages are bad. However, \"man\" the tool does have issues, and one of them bit me just now. So, I didn't know about openssh client escapes like ~?. I thought, \"surely that's in the manpage?\" I opened the manpage ", "context": "", "use_case": "reading command-line documentation", "switched_from": "", "story": "SSH Secret Menu"}]}], "who": [], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["reading command-line documentation", "offline linux docs"], "compared": [{"slug": "less", "name": "less", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47318797", "title": "SSH Secret Menu", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47065972", "title": "Notes on Clarifying Man Pages", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46464120", "title": "Assorted Less(1) Tips", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46106877", "title": "Ask HN: Linux offline knowledge base app?", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-01": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-02": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-03": {"warn": 1}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {}}, "versions": [], "version_unnamed": 0, "family_ref": null, "runs_on": null, "lines": [], "quotes": [{"id": 757408512, "item_id": 47338032, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47338032", "by": "fcloud", "date": "2026-03-11", "version": null, "stance": "warn", "quote": "\"man\" the tool does have issues, and one of them bit me just now.", "excerpt": "I intended to post in defense of manpages. I love manpages. I think most open-source manpages are high-quality, and a few are really outstanding. \"It's easier to ask an AI\" can be true without implying that manpages are bad. However, \"man\" the tool does have issues, and one of them bit me just now. So, I didn't know about openssh client escapes like ~?. I thought, \"surely that's in the manpage?\" I opened the manpage ", "context": "", "use_case": "reading command-line documentation", "switched_from": "", "story": "SSH Secret Menu"}, {"id": 753468800, "item_id": 47091800, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47091800", "by": "shikaan", "date": "2026-02-20", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I ended up using vanilla man again.", "excerpt": "I have played with that idea for a while until I realized I was creating a poor man's web browser in the terminal. At that point I started wondering if converting my man folder to HTML and using lynx[1] wasn't a better idea. I ended up using vanilla man again. Are there better/fancier manpage readers out there that can change my mind? [1]: https://lynx.invisible-island.net/current/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Notes on Clarifying Man Pages"}, {"id": 743545233, "item_id": 46471577, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46471577", "by": "somat", "date": "2026-01-02", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "why the technologically superior solution sort of lost to the stupider simpler man pages", "excerpt": "One of the more obscure things OpenBSD man does is provide tags to the pager(less). So you can do things like \":t test\" in man ksh and end up right at that section. However while I think the feature is neat, a clever use of an existing feature, I never use it. I think it is sort of the same as info pages and why the technologically superior solution sort of lost to the stupider simpler man pages. Having a simple unif", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Assorted Less(1) Tips"}, {"id": 737713792, "item_id": 46107112, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46107112", "by": "123malware321", "date": "2025-12-01", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "for a lot of linux things these 2 utils / commands are good", "excerpt": "https://linux.die.net/man/1/man https://linux.die.net/man/1/info for a lot of linux things these 2 utils / commands are good, if pages are available etc. etc. - i prefer info in there to any online docs. ofcourse, that doesn't include things 'on linux' but not linux, unless they are installed and include for example man pages (a lot of things do this actually, which is nice.) know its not like devdocs perhaps but its", "context": "", "use_case": "offline Linux docs", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Linux offline knowledge base app?"}]}