XPost: alt.comp.os.windows-10   
   From: Jeff@invalid.invalid   
      
   On 30/10/2025 13:13, Dan Purgert wrote:   
   > On 2025-10-30, Jeff Layman wrote:   
   >> On 30/10/2025 10:28, Dan Purgert wrote:   
   >>> On 2025-10-30, Jeff Layman wrote:   
   >>>> On 29/10/2025 21:57, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:   
   >>>>> gunzip -c $(man -w bash) | groff -ktman -Tpdf | okular -   
   >>>>   
   >>>> (computer name):~$ gunzip -c $(man -w bash) | groff -ktman -Tpdf | okular   
   -   
   >>>>   
   >>>> groff: fatal error: cannot load 'DESC' description file for device 'pdf'   
   >>>> org.kde.okular.core: No plugin for mimetype '"application/x-zerosize"'.   
   >>>   
   >>> Chances are you've only got 'groff-base' installed, rather than the full   
   >>> 'groff' package.   
   >>> [...]   
   >>>     3. "apt install groff" to install the full package.   
   >>   
   >> Successfully installed. There's quite a lot of it, but I've plenty of   
   >> disk space.   
   >   
   > Yeah, the "quite a lot" is why it's not installed by default, same as   
   > other things like vim.  Most people don't need all the fluff, so I guess   
   > the idea is to save space on the install ISOs.   
   >>   
   >>>     4. Run that command from Lawrence again   
   >>   
   >> It worked perfectly and that pdf is *much* easier to read than a   
   >> screenful of "manual" instructions in the Terminal. I've saved it for   
   >> future reference.   
   >   
   > Great! Something you might want to consider here is making yourself a   
   > little manpage wrapper script so you can get the PDF output for any   
   > manpages you want to read.   
   >   
   > Something like this ought to do it -- though admittedly this is rather   
   > off the cuff, so might have an egregious error or three.   
   >   
   >    #!/usr/bin/env bash   
   >   
   >    #usage reminder if we forgot the input parameter, or had too many   
   >    if [[ $# -ne 1 ]]; then   
   >      printf "man2pdf error: incorrect number of parameters given.\n"   
   >      printf "usage: man2pdf  (e.g. man2pdf bash).\n"   
   >      exit 1   
   >    fi   
   >   
   >    #'man -w' will return 0 only if the manpage exists   
   >    if $(man -w $1 &>/dev/null ) ; then   
   >      gunzip -c $(man -w "$1") | groff -ktman -Tpdf | okular -   
   >    else   
   >      printf "man2pdf error: No manual page for \"$1\" found.\n"   
   >    fi   
   >   
   > Save it as say "/usr/local/bin/man2pdf", and make sure it's executable.   
   >   
   > Alternatively, in Mint, I believe that if you create a $HOME/bin/   
   > directory, it will be added to your $PATH on the next login.  But that   
   > has the "downside" of not being globally accessible then (mostly a   
   > concern if you have multiple users on your PCs -- SO, kids,   
   > just-for-banking, whatever).   
      
   Thanks for the script. I'm the only user of this laptop, so I'll   
   probably do it via a $HOME/bin/ directory. I've never made an executable   
   file, but I'll have a read up on how to do it.   
      
   I have a question or perhaps two (they might be related) - which perhaps   
   should be directed to Lawrence, but I'm pretty sure you'll know the   
   answer. After running:   
   :~$ gunzip -c $(man -w bash) | groff -ktman -Tpdf | okular -   
   the terminal remained open, and when I tried to close it was warned that   
   there was still a process running in it, and closing the terminal would   
   kill it. Why does that script not end cleanly (if that's the right term)?   
      
   Also, at the end, he said:   
   (Substitution of alternative PDF viewer is left as an exercise for the   
   reader.)   
   I tried the $ gunzip... expression he used, but substituting qpdfview   
   for okular.   
      
   That, however, resulted in qpdfview opening, but with an error message:   
   "Warning   
   Could not open '-' "   
      
   I was a bit puzzled, but then remembered that when Okular opened with   
   the manual text, I tried to save it but couldn't as both "Save" and   
   "Save as" were greyed out. I was able to print that manual as "another"   
   pdf, and that's what I was referring to in my reply as being much easier   
   to use.   
      
   Okular is not only a pdf reader, but the properties of that manual   
   document refer to it as being a pdf (v 1.4). Why was it not saveable   
   directly as a pdf, and what went wrong with the qpdfview command if it   
   is a pdf?   
      
   --   
   Jeff   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)