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Traditional UNIX®️ options for help are -? and -h. --long-options are a horrid GNU-ism and shunned by clean UNIX®️ compliant programs, because such programs come with detailed, professionally written manual pages which contain extensive SYNOPSIS and EXAMPLES sections.

Implementing --long-options makes the poor users type much more, hurting ergonomy and the users' long-term productivity and efficiency.



I think long human-readable options are very nice when invoking a command in a script.

A (hypothetical) script can invoke rsync like this:

  rsync -Oogx
but long options makes things more readable:

  rsync \
    --omit-dir-times \
    --owner \
    --group \
    --one-file-system
It also helps when you're wondering if '-d' means debug or directory.

(although yes, it can allow options to be added to a program ad-nauseum)


-? - what are you smoking? :)

That is a glob in most shells, try putting a file named "-a" in your current directory and see what happens...

The proper way to write it would be -\?


It goes without saying that it has to be escaped in most shells, but that is the traditional option for help on UNIX®️. You would be well advised to educate yourself on the history of UNIX®️ before coming up with "what are you smoking?"


I see nothing wrong with extensive SYNOPSIS and EXAMPLES sections for programs using --long-options.

The fish shell extracts completion information from man pages, so that the user does not have to type so much and they get useful output, pulled from the manpage, no less.




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