pud(7)                          MISCELLANEOUS                           pud(7)



  NAME
      pud - Portable Unix Documentation for manual pages and FAQ documents

  DESCRIPTION
      Portable Unix Documentation or PUD currently provides two mini-languages
      for authoring in the UNIX environment.  The two mini-languages are for
      writing UNIX manual pages and FAQ documents.  Source documents in PUD
      languages can be compiled to either cross-linked html or to troff. The
      troff output can be further compiled into PostScript, PDF, and plain
      text.

  Table of Contents
       1. NAME
       2. DESCRIPTION
       3. Table of Contents
       4. Portable Unix Documentation extends zoem
       5. Getting started
       6. Unix manual pages in html, troff and PostScript
       7. FAQ documents in html, troff and PostScript
       8. Manuals and FAQ examples elsewhere
       9. DocBook considered harmful
      10. Info evil
      11. AUTHOR
      12. SEE ALSO

  Portable Unix Documentation extends zoem
      Portable Unix Documentation is built on top of zoem
      (http://micans.org/zoem), an all-purpose macro/programming language. PUD
      documents are processed by compiling them with the zoem processor.  The
      documents themselves are generally well-structured, relatively free of
      formatting statements and compact to write.  They can be easily extended
      since the full zoem language is available from within a portable unix
      document.

      Portable Unix Documentation is currently shipped with zoem. To use it
      you need zoem and if you install zoem you automatically get PUD. The
      upside is that the language files locations (which must be imported in a
      PUD document) are compiled into zoem and zoem and PUD will work
      seamlessly together.

  Getting started
         i Get and install zoem (http://micans.org/zoem).  All PUD files will
           be installed as well. If you are reading this locally on your
           system, chances are zoem and PUD are installed.

        ii On this page read the pointers in section Section 6 if you want to
           write a manual page.  Read the pointers in section Section 7 if you
           want to write an FAQ. The fastest way to get up to speed is to copy
           and modify a template or existing source document.

       iii While writing your document, consult the pud-man(7) documentation,
           the pud-faq(7) documentation, and the pud-base(7) documentation as
           necessary.

        iv Off you go. If you need macro facilities or programming facilities,
           zoem is there to assist you.  Simple macro tasks are easy to
           accomplish. For more involved stuff you might want to consult the
           Zoem User Manual (or ZUM).  ZUM should be installed locally.
           Alternatively view the latest ZUM at micans
           (http://micans.org/zoem/doc/zum.html) or subscribe to the mailing
           list (http://micans.org/zoem/index.html#list).

  Unix manual pages in html, troff and PostScript
      With the pud-man(7) package you create manual pages for output in either
      troff (groff, nroff) or html. The first can be viewed from a terminal,
      the second in a browser.

      The fictitious buzzz utility is described in a PUD manual page. It is
      shipped with every zoem distribution and the buzzz manual page should be
      installed locally in the same location as its source.  If the location
      is hard to find you can just obtain the PUD source from the zoem source
      distribution, or alternatively you may view the latest buzzz source
      (http://micans.org/zoem/mac/buzzz.azm) upstream at micans.  Further
      local links are to the PostScript version and the plain text format.

      For other examples consider the oldest PUD manual page ever written: the
      MCL manual page (http://micans.org/mcl/man/mcl.html), the same in
      PostScript output (http://micans.org/mcl/man/mcl.ps), and the source for
      all this (http://micans.org/mcl/man/mcl.azm).  By using the venerable
      col program, the troff output can be converted to nice looking plain
      text format (http://micans.org/mcl/man/mcl.txt).  Find the troff output
      (http://micans.org/mcl/man/mcl.1) disclosed as well.

      There are some 20+ manual pages for different utilities in the mcl
      family (http://micans.org/mcl/man/).

  FAQ documents in html, troff and PostScript
      Create FAQ documents with pud-faq(7) for output in either troff (groff,
      nroff) or html. The former can be viewed in a terminal via the UNIX man
      page system, the latter can be viewed in a browser.

      The PUD FAQ mini-language is described as a rather trivial FAQ itself.
      It can be viewed in PostScript (compiled from troff compiled from the
      zoem source and in plain text (again compiled from troff).

      For examples behold the browsing delight
      (http://micans.org/mcl/man/mclfaq.html) that is the mcl FAQ, and the
      PostScript pleasure (http://micans.org/mcl/man/mclfaq.ps).  Find the
      noblest format (http://micans.org/mcl/man/mclfaq.txt), the impregnable
      troff (http://micans.org/mcl/man/mclfaq.7), and the source
      (http://micans.org/mcl/man/mclfaq.azm) for all that jazz.

  Manuals and FAQ examples elsewhere
      Other people exist writing PUD. Not many yet.  Joost van Baal has used
      the pud-faq package and the pud-man package to create documentation for
      GnuPG (in Dutch) (http://mdcc.cx/gnupg/), caspar
      (http://mdcc.cx/pub/caspar/caspar-latest/doc/), and the strong
      (fire)walls of uruk (http://mdcc.cx/pub/uruk/uruk-latest/man/).

  DocBook considered harmful
      People justly wonder why PUD turns away from the blazing light of
      goodness that is DocBook. DocBook does provide manual page elements and
      it does support gazillions of output devices.  Nevertheless DocBook man
      pages are a cruelty, a curse and the bane of all things good and pure.

      DocBook cannot be written, it cannot be maintained, it cannot be
      programmed. Yes, XML and DocBook are not supposed to be programmed, but
      where is the decree that man should toil and suffer so that his
      documentation would be transmogrifyable into all eternity?

      DocBook provides some sort of manual page ontology, describing
      supposedly every element you might ever need. Inevitably you will want
      to do things that are not provided and then you are stuck.  DocBook
      lists and enumerations are painful and limited. The verbosity of DocBook
      makes a mountain out of what should be a mole hill.

      Zoem manual pages are concise and can be easily cross-referenced. The
      source is a pleasure to read and output from self-documenting commands
      can be imported. Zoem IO, macro and programming facilities make the
      source extendable so that new requirements can be coped with.

      Wise people argue that one cannot fathom the needs of future generations
      and urge the good people of UNIX to use DocBook. The fool knows that
      this particular premise disproves the thesis and that joy begets joy.
      Factor the present into the authoring sustainability equation and the
      scales tip.

      At this juncture, I am hesitantly willing to bet that the PUD languages
      can easily be ported to DocBook. None of the pain, all of the gain.  The
      PUD itemize environment is a sticking point though. It provides,
      horrors, a few formatting options. Optional paragraphs skips, compact
      mode, right-alignment of items, automatic enumeration, and the
      fantabulous intermezzo feature.

  Info evil
      The good people of info consider manual pages obsolete. What more is
      there to say? It is all written here
      (http://micans.org/stijn/views/infoinferno.html).

  AUTHOR
      PUD was written by Stijn van Dongen.

  SEE ALSO
      pud-man(7)
      pud-faq(7)
      pud-base(7)
      pud-ref(7)



  pud 1.002, 09-149                 29 May 2009                           pud(7)
