unified man page

[Thomas Klausner <wiz%NetBSD.org@localhost>]

Hi!

I'd like to propose that we merge all man pages into one.

Advantages:

+ man(1) itself can be replaced with a short shell script that just cats
  the man page. Less code to maintain is always good.

+ The apropos(1) problems are an issue of the past, since it's not
  needed any longer. We can just remove it. Or, for more backwards
  compatibility, we replace it with a short shell script that just
  prints the name of the man page; after all, if anything matches,
  it'll be there.

+ All header files are cited in one place, so you can just
  copy'n'paste the includes to the top of all your source code and
  never worry about missing prototypes again.

+ All environment variables are in one place, so you can select and
  copy the ones you want to modify.

+ You can easily see what an option letter does across programs.

+ Finally, there will be one document that describes all kernel
  interfaces and userland programs.

+ Only one file to copy if you want to have your NetBSD docs on-the-go
  (~ 75MB, compresses to ~7MB though).

+ No more outdated links to other man pages!

Disadvantages:

- The SYNOPSIS will be a bit long.

- The DESCRIPTION might be a bit harder to read than nowadays.

- Updates for third-party man pages might be a bit more difficult. But
  I think we can come up with a script that does it automatically.

I haven't yet decided on the name of the man page. My favorite so far
is "world(*)".

Comments?
 Thomas