From a33da9202977f7f66d820e761d203c3850410215 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: "G. Branden Robinson" Date: Sat, 2 May 2026 03:16:36 -0500 Subject: [PATCH] doc/*.6: Tweak copyright notices in man pages Use *roff special character `\(co` for copyright sign. This special character identifier is _almost_ universally portable, dating back to Ossanna troff in 1976.[1] The exception is Plan 9 nroff, which claims to be thoroughly UTF-8 oriented and should be able to render a copyright sign.[2] If no glyph for the character is available, the output device driver degrades it to "c" (which is technically correct[3]), except for groff, which falls back to "(C)"[4] only on its "ascii" output device. All of groff's other devices have a a proper copyright sign.[5] References: [1] https://archive.org/details/unix-programmers-manual-seventh-edition-vol-2-1983/ (pp. 196ff., see esp. "Table II", p. 227) [2] https://github.com/9fans/plan9port/pull/735#issuecomment-3391733330 [3] https://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ03.pdf [4] https://github.com/GitMirroring/groff/blob/a4d6e619afc8042b12084527c3c11eae919533e2/tmac/tty.tmac#L123 [5] https://paste.c-net.org/ComradesCourage --- doc/dlb.6 | 8 +++++++- doc/makedefs.6 | 8 +++++++- doc/nethack.6 | 8 +++++++- doc/recover.6 | 8 +++++++- 4 files changed, 28 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-) diff --git a/doc/dlb.6 b/doc/dlb.6 index d4557ae18..ca01bd8c7 100644 --- a/doc/dlb.6 +++ b/doc/dlb.6 @@ -152,5 +152,11 @@ Should include an optional compression facility. Not all read-only files for NetHack can be read out of an archive; examining the source is the only way to know which files can be. .SH COPYRIGHT -This file is Copyright (C) \*(Na, \*(Nd for version \*(Nb:\*(Nr. +.\" All troffs and nroffs support `\(co` except Plan 9 nroff, but Plan 9 +.\" offers no test for special character availability, and its feature +.\" set too closely resembles DWB 3.3 to test for it. Use a string with +.\" any nroff-mode formatter not claiming groff compatiblity. +.ds co \(co +.if !\n(.g .if n .ds co (C)\" in principle, should be just "c" +This file is Copyright \*(co \*(Na, \*(Nd for version \*(Nb:\*(Nr. NetHack may be freely redistributed. See license for details. diff --git a/doc/makedefs.6 b/doc/makedefs.6 index e2813adc8..1af27082f 100644 --- a/doc/makedefs.6 +++ b/doc/makedefs.6 @@ -272,5 +272,11 @@ end the most recent conditional .SH AUTHOR The NetHack Development Team .SH COPYRIGHT -This file is Copyright (C) \*(Na, \*(Nd for version \*(Nb:\*(Nr. +.\" All troffs and nroffs support `\(co` except Plan 9 nroff, but Plan 9 +.\" offers no test for special character availability, and its feature +.\" set too closely resembles DWB 3.3 to test for it. Use a string with +.\" any nroff-mode formatter not claiming groff compatiblity. +.ds co \(co +.if !\n(.g .if n .ds co (C)\" in principle, should be just "c" +This file is Copyright \*(co \*(Na, \*(Nd for version \*(Nb:\*(Nr. NetHack may be freely redistributed. See license for details. diff --git a/doc/nethack.6 b/doc/nethack.6 index 9e9fb97e0..290d56932 100644 --- a/doc/nethack.6 +++ b/doc/nethack.6 @@ -570,7 +570,13 @@ recover(6) .PP Probably infinite. .SH COPYRIGHT -This file is Copyright (C) \*(Na, \*(Nd for version \*(Nb:\*(Nr. +.\" All troffs and nroffs support `\(co` except Plan 9 nroff, but Plan 9 +.\" offers no test for special character availability, and its feature +.\" set too closely resembles DWB 3.3 to test for it. Use a string with +.\" any nroff-mode formatter not claiming groff compatiblity. +.ds co \(co +.if !\n(.g .if n .ds co (C)\" in principle, should be just "c" +This file is Copyright \*(co \*(Na, \*(Nd for version \*(Nb:\*(Nr. NetHack may be freely redistributed. See license for details. .PP Dungeons & Dragons is a Trademark of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. diff --git a/doc/recover.6 b/doc/recover.6 index 90d56c8c9..818ee18f1 100644 --- a/doc/recover.6 +++ b/doc/recover.6 @@ -148,5 +148,11 @@ determine. should be taught to use the nethack playground locking mechanism to avoid conflicts. .SH COPYRIGHT -This file is Copyright (C) \*(Na, \*(Nd for version \*(Nb:\*(Nr. +.\" All troffs and nroffs support `\(co` except Plan 9 nroff, but Plan 9 +.\" offers no test for special character availability, and its feature +.\" set too closely resembles DWB 3.3 to test for it. Use a string with +.\" any nroff-mode formatter not claiming groff compatiblity. +.ds co \(co +.if !\n(.g .if n .ds co (C)\" in principle, should be just "c" +This file is Copyright \*(co \*(Na, \*(Nd for version \*(Nb:\*(Nr. NetHack may be freely redistributed. See license for details.