bug#67656: 'man touch' text about --time hard to read compared to 'touch --help'

[Pádraig Brady]

On 06/12/2023 09:03, Arsen Arsenović via GNU coreutils Bug Reports wrote:

Hi,

In the manpage of touch, 'touch' flag --time is described as:

        --time=WORD
               change the specified time: WORD is access, atime, or use:
               equivalent to -a WORD is modify or mtime: equivalent to -m

... whereas, in the --help text, --time is described as:

     --time=WORD        change the specified time:
                          WORD is access, atime, or use: equivalent to -a
                          WORD is modify or mtime: equivalent to -m

The latter is far more readable, and the manpage appears to be
mis-formatted (perhaps by help2man?).

IMO, the help text should also say 'if WORD is ..., or ...: ...' to
provide further clarity in the text.

The formatting issue is more pressing, however, as it makes the manpage
highly confusing compared to the help or manual texts.

Could this be corrected?

I pushed the following:

      --time=WORD        specify which time to change:
                           access time (-a): 'access', 'atime', 'use';
                           modification time (-m): 'modify', 'mtime'

Marking this as done.

thanks,
Pádraig