[Pkg-utopia-maintainers] dbus-update-activation-environment.1: Some remarks and a patch with editorial changes for this man page
Bjarni Ingi Gislason
bjarniig at simnet.is
Tue Jun 9 21:08:05 BST 2026
Package: dbus-bin
Version: 1.16.2-5
Severity: minor
Tags: patch
Additional remarks.
Mails from me to "submit at bugs.debian.org" are no longer acknowledged. A
Debian maintainer told me, that he would contact the mail administrator
about me not wanting to send bugs upstream.
-.-
Dear Maintainer,
>From "/usr/share/doc/debian/bug-reporting.txt.gz":
Don't file bugs upstream
If you file a bug in Debian, don't send a copy to the upstream software
maintainers yourself, as it is possible that the bug exists only in
Debian. If necessary, the maintainer of the package will forward the
bug upstream.
-.-
For forwarding bug reports to upstream see:
https://www.debian.org/Bugs/Developer#forward
-.-
"Handling bug reports" in
http://people.debian.org/~enrico/dcg/ch03s02.html
-.-
I do not send reports upstream if I have to get an account there.
The Debian maintainers have one already.
If I get a negative (or no) response from upstream, I send henceforth
bugs to Debian.
-.-
* What led up to the situation?
Checking for defects with a new version
test-[g|n]roff -mandoc -t -K utf8 -rF0 -rHY=0 -rCHECKSTYLE=0 -ww -z < "man page"
[Use
grep -n -e ' $' -e '\\~$' -e ' \\f.$' -e ' \\"' <file>
to find (most) trailing spaces.]
["test-groff" is a script in the repository for "groff"; is not shipped]
(local copy and "troff" slightly changed by me).
[The fate of "test-nroff" was decided in groff bug #55941.]
* What was the outcome of this action?
-mandoc -t -K utf8 -rF0 -rHY=0 -rCHECKSTYLE=0 -ww -z
* What outcome did you expect instead?
No output (no warnings).
-.-
General remarks and further material, if a diff-file exist, are in the
attachments.
-- System Information:
Debian Release: forky/sid
APT prefers testing
APT policy: (500, 'testing')
Architecture: amd64 (x86_64)
Kernel: Linux 7.0.10+deb14-amd64 (SMP w/2 CPU threads; PREEMPT)
Locale: LANG=is_IS.iso88591, LC_CTYPE=is_IS.iso88591 (charmap=ISO-8859-1), LANGUAGE not set
Shell: /bin/sh linked to /usr/bin/dash
Init: sysvinit (via /sbin/init)
Versions of packages dbus-bin depends on:
ii libc6 2.42-16
ii libdbus-1-3 1.16.2-5
dbus-bin recommends no packages.
dbus-bin suggests no packages.
-- no debconf information
-------------- next part --------------
Input file is dbus-update-activation-environment.1
Output from "mandoc -T lint dbus-update-activation-environment.1": (shortened list)
9 STYLE: input text line longer than 80 bytes
2 STYLE: input text line longer than 80 bytes:
1 STYLE: whitespace at end of input line
1 WARNING: missing date, using ""
10 WARNING: skipping paragraph macro
Find trailing whitespace with:
grep -n -e ' $' -e ' \\f.$' -e ' \\"' <man page>
-.-.
Output from
test-mandoc -t -Kutf8 -ww -z dbus-update-activation-environment.1: (shortened list)
1 trailing whitespace [-w trail]
Find trailing whitespace with:
grep -n -e ' $' -e ' \\f.$' -e ' \\"' <man page>
-.-.
Show if docman-to-man created this.
A patch to a generated man page is to show where the generator
failed to make a "clean" man page rendering (that is without warnings) and
sometimes to show a better format for it.
Generated files create bigger and more difficult to read/check patches
when the generator creats long lines, instead of shorter ones or by
postprocesing its output in such a way.
4:.\" Generator: DocBook XSL Stylesheets vsnapshot <http://docbook.sf.net/>
-.-.
Remove space characters (whitespace) at the end of lines.
Use "git apply ... --whitespace=fix" to fix extra space issues, or use
global configuration "core.whitespace".
See more information in the attachment "trailing whitespace".
Number of lines affected is
3
-.-.
Wrong distance (not two spaces, not a new line character (\n)) between
sentences in the input file.
Separate the sentences and subordinate clauses; each begins on a new
line. See man-pages(7) ("Conventions for source file layout") and
"info groff" ("Input Conventions").
The best procedure is to always start a new sentence on a new line,
at least, if you are typing on a computer.
Remember coding: Only one command ("sentence") on each (logical) line.
E-mail: Easier to quote exactly the relevant lines.
Generally: Easier to edit the sentence.
Patches: Less unaffected text.
Search for two adjacent words is easier, when they belong to the same line,
and the same phrase.
The amount of space between sentences in the output can then be
controlled with the ".ss" request.
Mark a final abbreviation point as such by suffixing it with "\&".
Some sentences (etc.) do not begin on a new line.
Split (sometimes) lines after a punctuation mark; before a conjunction.
Lines with only one (or two) space(s) between sentences could be split,
so latter sentences begin on a new line.
Use
#!/usr/bin/sh
sed -e '/^\./n' \
-e 's/\([[:alpha:]]\)\. */\1.\n/g' $1
to split lines after a sentence period.
Check result with the difference between the formatted outputs.
See also the attachment "general.bugs"
33:\fBdbus\-update\-activation\-environment\fR [\-\-systemd] [\-\-verbose] \-\-all | \fIVAR\fR... | \fIVAR\fR=\fIVAL\fR...
51:\fBsystemd\fR\&. This is very similar to the
60:may be set, but their values will be overridden when a service is started\&. For instance, it is not useful to add
88:\fBdbus\-update\-activation\-environment\fR, set it to the same value for D\-Bus services\&. Its value must be UTF\-8 (if not, it is skipped with a warning)\&. If
161:exits with status 0 on success, EX_USAGE (64) on invalid command\-line options, EX_OSERR (71) if unable to connect to the session bus, or EX_UNAVAILABLE (69) if unable to set the environment variables\&. Other nonzero exit codes might be added in future versions\&.
182:supports environment variables with non\-UTF\-8 names or values\&. Accordingly,
187:Please send bug reports to the D\-Bus bug tracker or mailing list\&. See
205:This man page is distributed under the same terms as dbus\-update\-activation\-environment (MIT/X11)\&. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law\&.
-.-.
Split lines longer than 80 characters (fill completely
an A4 sized page line on a terminal)
into two or more lines.
Appropriate break points are the end of a sentence and a subordinate
clause; after punctuation marks.
[List of affected lines removed.]
Longest line is number 161 with 265 characters
exits with status 0 on success, EX_USAGE (64) on invalid command\-line options, EX_OSERR (71) if unable to connect to the session bus, or EX_UNAVAILABLE (69) if unable to set the environment variables\&. Other nonzero exit codes might be added in future versions\&.
-.-.
Put a parenthetical sentence, phrase on a separate line,
if not part of a code.
See man-pages(7), item "semantic newline".
dbus-update-activation-environment.1:88:\fBdbus\-update\-activation\-environment\fR, set it to the same value for D\-Bus services\&. Its value must be UTF\-8 (if not, it is skipped with a warning)\&. If
-.-.
No need for '\&' to be in front of a period (.),
if there is a character in front of it.
Remove with "sed -e 's/\(.\)\\&\./\1./g'".
The number of lines with such use is 22
-.-.
Only one space character is after a possible end of sentence
(after a punctuation, that can end a sentence).
dbus-update-activation-environment.1:33:\fBdbus\-update\-activation\-environment\fR [\-\-systemd] [\-\-verbose] \-\-all | \fIVAR\fR... | \fIVAR\fR=\fIVAL\fR...
dbus-update-activation-environment.1:51:\fBsystemd\fR\&. This is very similar to the
dbus-update-activation-environment.1:60:may be set, but their values will be overridden when a service is started\&. For instance, it is not useful to add
dbus-update-activation-environment.1:88:\fBdbus\-update\-activation\-environment\fR, set it to the same value for D\-Bus services\&. Its value must be UTF\-8 (if not, it is skipped with a warning)\&. If
dbus-update-activation-environment.1:161:exits with status 0 on success, EX_USAGE (64) on invalid command\-line options, EX_OSERR (71) if unable to connect to the session bus, or EX_UNAVAILABLE (69) if unable to set the environment variables\&. Other nonzero exit codes might be added in future versions\&.
dbus-update-activation-environment.1:182:supports environment variables with non\-UTF\-8 names or values\&. Accordingly,
dbus-update-activation-environment.1:187:Please send bug reports to the D\-Bus bug tracker or mailing list\&. See
dbus-update-activation-environment.1:205:This man page is distributed under the same terms as dbus\-update\-activation\-environment (MIT/X11)\&. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law\&.
-.-.
Remove quotes when there is a printable
but no space character between them
and the quotes are not for emphasis (markup),
for example as an argument to a macro.
dbus-update-activation-environment.1:9:.TH "DBUS\-UPDATE\-ACTIVA" "1" "" "D\-Bus 1\&.16\&.2" "User Commands"
dbus-update-activation-environment.1:29:.SH "NAME"
dbus-update-activation-environment.1:31:.SH "SYNOPSIS"
dbus-update-activation-environment.1:34:.SH "DESCRIPTION"
dbus-update-activation-environment.1:65:.SH "OPTIONS"
dbus-update-activation-environment.1:100:.SH "EXAMPLES"
dbus-update-activation-environment.1:162:.SH "ENVIRONMENT"
dbus-update-activation-environment.1:169:.SH "LIMITATIONS"
dbus-update-activation-environment.1:185:.SH "BUGS"
dbus-update-activation-environment.1:189:.SH "AUTHOR"
dbus-update-activation-environment.1:200:.SH "COPYRIGHT"
-.-.
Add "\&" after an ellipsis, when it does not end a sentence.
33:\fBdbus\-update\-activation\-environment\fR [\-\-systemd] [\-\-verbose] \-\-all | \fIVAR\fR... | \fIVAR\fR=\fIVAL\fR...
-.-.
Change comment lines of type '.\" ====', '.\" ---', and an empty
'.\"' line) to a single period, as they contain no information and waste
work each time they are processed.
8:.\"
10:.\" -----------------------------------------------------------------
12:.\" -----------------------------------------------------------------
13:.\" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
16:.\" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
19:.\" -----------------------------------------------------------------
21:.\" -----------------------------------------------------------------
26:.\" -----------------------------------------------------------------
28:.\" -----------------------------------------------------------------
-.-.
Generally:
Split (sometimes) lines after a punctuation mark; before a conjunction.
-.-
Tables:
Use the preprocessor 'tbl' to make tables.
Put data, that are wider than the header in the (centered) last column,
in a "T{...\nT}" block(, when the table gets wider than the output line).
Table headings, that are wider than any data in the corresponding
column, do not need to be centered, so left adjustment (l, L) is
sufficient.
-------------- next part --------------
--- dbus-update-activation-environment.1 2026-06-08 02:25:38.362604432 +0000
+++ dbus-update-activation-environment.1.new 2026-06-08 04:18:21.920235405 +0000
@@ -5,34 +5,33 @@
.\" Manual: User Commands
.\" Source: D-Bus 1.16.2
.\" Language: English
-.\"
-.TH "DBUS\-UPDATE\-ACTIVA" "1" "" "D\-Bus 1\&.16\&.2" "User Commands"
-.\" -----------------------------------------------------------------
+.
+.TH DBUS\-UPDATE\-ACTIVA 1 "" "D\-Bus 1\&.16\&.2" "User Commands"
+.
.\" * Define some portability stuff
-.\" -----------------------------------------------------------------
-.\" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+.
+.
.\" http://bugs.debian.org/507673
.\" http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/groff/2009-02/msg00013.html
-.\" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+.
.ie \n(.g .ds Aq \(aq
.el .ds Aq '
-.\" -----------------------------------------------------------------
+.
.\" * set default formatting
-.\" -----------------------------------------------------------------
+.
.\" disable hyphenation
.nh
.\" disable justification (adjust text to left margin only)
.ad l
-.\" -----------------------------------------------------------------
+.
.\" * MAIN CONTENT STARTS HERE *
-.\" -----------------------------------------------------------------
-.SH "NAME"
+.
+.SH NAME
dbus-update-activation-environment \- update environment used for D\-Bus session services
-.SH "SYNOPSIS"
+.SH SYNOPSIS
.HP \w'\fBdbus\-update\-activation\-environment\fR\ 'u
-\fBdbus\-update\-activation\-environment\fR [\-\-systemd] [\-\-verbose] \-\-all | \fIVAR\fR... | \fIVAR\fR=\fIVAL\fR...
-.SH "DESCRIPTION"
-.PP
+\fBdbus\-update\-activation\-environment\fR [\-\-systemd] [\-\-verbose] \-\-all | \fIVAR\fR... | \fIVAR\fR=\fIVAL\fR...
+.SH DESCRIPTION
\fBdbus\-update\-activation\-environment\fR
updates the list of environment variables used by
\fBdbus\-daemon \-\-session\fR
@@ -62,8 +61,7 @@ may be set, but their values will be ove
to
\fBdbus\-daemon\fR\*(Aqs activation environment, although it might still be useful to add it to
\fBsystemd\fR\*(Aqs activation environment\&.
-.SH "OPTIONS"
-.PP
+.SH OPTIONS
\fB\-\-all\fR
.RS 4
Set all environment variables present in the environment used by
@@ -97,8 +95,7 @@ Set
to
\fIVAL\fR, which must be UTF\-8\&.
.RE
-.SH "EXAMPLES"
-.PP
+.SH EXAMPLES
\fBdbus\-update\-activation\-environment\fR
is primarily designed to be used in Linux distributions\*(Aq X11 session startup scripts, in conjunction with the "user bus" design\&.
.PP
@@ -156,18 +153,15 @@ to
.\}
.sp
.SH "EXIT STATUS"
-.PP
\fBdbus\-update\-activation\-environment\fR
exits with status 0 on success, EX_USAGE (64) on invalid command\-line options, EX_OSERR (71) if unable to connect to the session bus, or EX_UNAVAILABLE (69) if unable to set the environment variables\&. Other nonzero exit codes might be added in future versions\&.
-.SH "ENVIRONMENT"
-.PP
+.SH ENVIRONMENT
\fBDBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS\fR,
\fBXDG_RUNTIME_DIR\fR
and/or
\fBDISPLAY\fR
are used to find the address of the session bus\&.
-.SH "LIMITATIONS"
-.PP
+.SH LIMITATIONS
\fBdbus\-daemon\fR
does not provide a way to unset environment variables after they have been set (although
\fBsystemd\fR
@@ -182,23 +176,19 @@ nor
supports environment variables with non\-UTF\-8 names or values\&. Accordingly,
\fBdbus\-update\-activation\-environment\fR
assumes that any name or value that appears to be valid UTF\-8 is intended to be UTF\-8, and ignores other names or values with a warning\&.
-.SH "BUGS"
-.PP
+.SH BUGS
Please send bug reports to the D\-Bus bug tracker or mailing list\&. See
\m[blue]\fBhttps://www\&.freedesktop\&.org/wiki/Software/dbus/\fR\m[]\&.
-.SH "AUTHOR"
-.PP
+.SH AUTHOR
See
\m[blue]\fBhttps://dbus\&.freedesktop\&.org/doc/AUTHORS\fR\m[]
.SH "SEE ALSO"
-.PP
\fBdbus-daemon\fR(1),
\fBsystemd\fR(1), the
\fBimport\-environment\fR
command of
\fBsystemctl\fR(1)
-.SH "COPYRIGHT"
-.br
+.SH COPYRIGHT
Copyright \(co 2015 Collabora Ltd.
.br
.PP
-------------- next part --------------
Check the output from "lintian" in the Debian distribution.
Any program (person), that produces man pages, should check the output
for defects by using (both groff and nroff)
[gn]roff -mandoc -t -ww -b -z -K utf8 <man page>
To find most trailing spaces use
grep -n -e ' $' -e ' \\f.$' -e ' \\"' <man page>
The same goes for man pages that are used as an input.
-.-
For a style guide use
mandoc -T lint
-.-
For general input conventions consult the man page "nroff(7)" (item
"Input conventions") or the Texinfo manual about the same item.
-.-
Any "autogenerator" should check its products with the above mentioned
'groff', 'mandoc', and additionally with 'nroff ...'.
It should also check its input files for too long (> 80) lines.
This is just a simple quality control measure.
The "autogenerator" may have to be corrected to get a better man page,
the source file may, and any additional file may.
-.-
Common defects:
Not removing trailing spaces (in in- and output).
The reason for these trailing spaces should be found and eliminated.
"git" has a "tool" to point out whitespace,
see for example "git-apply(1)" and git-config(1)")
-.-
Not beginning each input sentence on a new line.
Line length and patch size should thus be reduced when that has been fixed.
The script "reportbug" uses 'quoted-printable' encoding when a line is
longer than 1024 characters in an 'ascii' file.
See man-pages(7), item "semantic newline".
-.-
The difference between the formatted output of the original
and patched file can be seen with:
nroff -mandoc <file1> > <out1>
nroff -mandoc <file2> > <out2>
diff -d -u <out1> <out2>
and for groff, using
\"printf '%s\n%s\n' '.kern 0' '.ss 12 0' | groff -mandoc -Z - \"
instead of 'nroff -mandoc'
Add the option '-t', if the file contains a table.
Read the output from 'diff -d -u ...' with 'less -R' or similar.
-.-.
If 'man' (man-db) is used to check the manual for warnings,
the following must be set:
The option "-warnings=w"
The environmental variable:
export MAN_KEEP_STDERR=yes (or any non-empty value)
or
(produce only warnings):
export MANROFFOPT="-ww -b -z"
export MAN_KEEP_STDERR=yes (or any non-empty value)
-.-
-------------- next part --------------
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