Don't use Unix man pages as a model for how to write GNU documentation; most of them are terse, badly structured, and give inadequate explanation of the underlying concepts. (There are, of course, some exceptions.) Also, Unix man pages use a particular format which is different from what we use in GNU manuals.
In the GNU project, man pages are secondary. It is not necessary or expected for every GNU program to have a man page, but some of them do. It's your choice whether to include a man page in your program.
When you make this decision, consider that supporting a man page requires continual effort each time the program is changed. The time you spend on the man page is time taken away from more useful work.
For a simple program which changes little, updating the man page may be a small job. Then there is little reason not to include a man page, if you have one.
For a large program that changes a great deal, updating a man page may be a substantial burden. If a user offers to donate a man page, you may find this gift costly to accept. It may be better to refuse the man page unless the same person agrees to take full responsibility for maintaining it--so that you can wash your hands of it entirely. If this volunteer later ceases to do the job, then don't feel obliged to pick it up yourself; it may be better to withdraw the man page from the distribution until someone else agrees to update it.
# Extrait des GNU coding standards:
Posté par Jul (site web personnel) . En réponse à la dépêche Toutes les commandes Linux. Évalué à 2.
http://www.gnu.org/prep/standards_33.html(...)
Don't use Unix man pages as a model for how to write GNU documentation; most of them are terse, badly structured, and give inadequate explanation of the underlying concepts. (There are, of course, some exceptions.) Also, Unix man pages use a particular format which is different from what we use in GNU manuals.
Man Pages
http://www.gnu.org/prep/standards_46.html#SEC46(...)
In the GNU project, man pages are secondary. It is not necessary or expected for every GNU program to have a man page, but some of them do. It's your choice whether to include a man page in your program.
When you make this decision, consider that supporting a man page requires continual effort each time the program is changed. The time you spend on the man page is time taken away from more useful work.
For a simple program which changes little, updating the man page may be a small job. Then there is little reason not to include a man page, if you have one.
For a large program that changes a great deal, updating a man page may be a substantial burden. If a user offers to donate a man page, you may find this gift costly to accept. It may be better to refuse the man page unless the same person agrees to take full responsibility for maintaining it--so that you can wash your hands of it entirely. If this volunteer later ceases to do the job, then don't feel obliged to pick it up yourself; it may be better to withdraw the man page from the distribution until someone else agrees to update it.