Bug#368328: closed by Andreas Metzler <ametzler@debian.org> (Re: Bug#368328: which options are the most important?)

[Marc Haber]

On Sun, May 21, 2006 at 11:05:26PM +0100, Frederik Eaton wrote:
> 3.5 seems useful too. I think the three options mentioned there (-bm,
> -bs, -bS) should be up at the top of the man page, maybe with the same
> explanatory text.

I have been an exim user since 1998, and I do not remember ever having
used -bm, -bs and/or -bS.

For me, the most important option is -bt, followed by -oMr and -M.

See, three people, three opinions.

Additionally, the man page is generated upstream automatically from
the exim specification, and I doubt that upstream is going to change
that.

If you want to learn about exim, I'd suggest Philip's excellent book
published by UIT, which is more of a tutorial than a reference.

> But if I (1) know that I want to run the exim
> command, for instance I have a message that I want to send with it,

Exim is a drop-in replacement for /usr/lib/sendmail, and if you use
that, you'd get the bonus of being portable.

> but (2) I don't know the exact options to use; then the man page seems
> like a reasonable place to look. In exim's case, it is practically
> useless

I disagree. grep exists.

>- the few options which comprise 99% of all uses are buried
> deep within the man page.

I disagree.

> It would be good to have this information somewhere in the man page.

Send a patch upstream.

> Sure, you get *some* order by listing things alphabetically; so I
> don't understand your aversion to having *more* order. Is order good,
> or what? Maybe having order is good when it's useful for defending
> your position, but not mine?

Order is relative.

Greetings
Marc

-- 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Marc Haber         | "I don't trust Computers. They | Mailadresse im Header
Mannheim, Germany  |  lose things."    Winona Ryder | Fon: *49 621 72739834
Nordisch by Nature |  How to make an American Quilt | Fax: *49 621 72739835