On the contrary. Given today's disk sizes, I think man pages should be stored inside executables, in a special section of the executable that doesn't get loaded when the executable is loaded. That makes it easier to keep executable and man page in sync, and would allow us to (eventually) get rid of the man page directories for non-programmers (there are some issues to solve here for zip/unzip, busybox and the like, but I think thise are surmountable. Also, users running with small disks could strip such sections from binaries)
I also think there should be another data section in each command-line program that contains an abstract layout of a dialog for entering arguments, as was customary in Macintosh Programmer's Workshop (http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh_Programmer%27s_Work...).
Shells could use that layout to make it easier for users to enter lesser used commands or command options. Some shells would use curses to layout these dialogs, others would choose to use a 'real' GUI. Alternatively, separate tools would be written, and shells would use a COMMANDO shell variable to pick the one the user prefers.
Comments
On the contrary. Given today's disk sizes, I think man pages should be stored inside executables, in a special section of the executable that doesn't get loaded when the executable is loaded. That makes it easier to keep executable and man page in sync, and would allow us to (eventually) get rid of the man page directories for non-programmers (there are some issues to solve here for zip/unzip, busybox and the like, but I think thise are surmountable. Also, users running with small disks could strip such sections from binaries)
I also think there should be another data section in each command-line program that contains an abstract layout of a dialog for entering arguments, as was customary in Macintosh Programmer's Workshop (http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh_Programmer%27s_Work...).
Shells could use that layout to make it easier for users to enter lesser used commands or command options. Some shells would use curses to layout these dialogs, others would choose to use a 'real' GUI. Alternatively, separate tools would be written, and shells would use a COMMANDO shell variable to pick the one the user prefers.