[RFC] Concise vs comprehensive help - do we need both?

[Ian Clatworthy]

Stephen J. Turnbull wrote:
> Ian Clatworthy writes:

>  > * "bzr help -?" be supported & it should show just the one line
>  >   summary and list the options.

BTW, I meant "bzr xxx -?" where xxx is any command.

> Why not "bzr help -+"?<duck />  Seriously, the fact that you see a
> need for a very terse and unintelligible option shows that this should
> be the default behavior.

Now that's being a little harsh, isn't it? Lots of tools support -?
to mean "give me help" including vi, python, man and svn to name a few.
Try this:

  bzr -?

It shows help, just like bzr -h does! Maybe it's just me but reading
-? as "show me the options" or "what can I put after a -" isn't
unintelligible, it's as natural as -h.

I'd be just as happy not adding -? and making -h be concise help while
"bzr help xxx" gave the full story. Would that be better?

Ian C.