doc: update tail's documentation to allow for new -F semantics

* src/tail.c (usage): Reword tail -F description, so that it no
longer mentions details specific to the non-inotify implementation.
Also, join diagnostic strings (while staying under the 509-byte limit)
to ease formatting of translations.  The latter was prompted by
a report from Stéphane Raimbault.
* doc/coreutils.texi (tail invocation): Update description here, too.

diff --git a/THANKS b/THANKS
index b5adaeb..ce196a4 100644 (file)
--- a/THANKS
+++ b/THANKS
@@ -543,6 +543,7 @@ Solar Designer                      solar@owl.openwall.com
 Stanislav Ievlev                    inger@altlinux.ru
 Stavros Passas                      stabat@ics.forth.gr
 Stéphane Chazelas                   Stephane_CHAZELAS@yahoo.fr
+Stéphane Raimbault                  stephane.raimbault@makina-corpus.com
 Stephen Depooter                    sbdep@myrealbox.com
 Stephen Eglen                       eglen@pcg.wustl.edu
 Stephen Gildea                      gildea@stop.mail-abuse.org

diff --git a/doc/coreutils.texi b/doc/coreutils.texi
index e097c25..5e43b17 100644 (file)
--- a/doc/coreutils.texi
+++ b/doc/coreutils.texi
@@ -2770,8 +2770,10 @@ If you'd like to continue to track the end of a growing file even after
 it has been unlinked, use @option{--follow=descriptor}.  This is the default
 behavior, but it is not useful if you're tracking a log file that may be
 rotated (removed or renamed, then reopened).  In that case, use
-@option{--follow=name} to track the named file by reopening it periodically
-to see if it has been removed and recreated by some other program.
+@option{--follow=name} to track the named file, perhaps by reopening it
+periodically to see if it has been removed and recreated by some other program.
+Note that the inotify-based implementation handles this case without
+the need for any periodic reopening.
 
 No matter which method you use, if the tracked file is determined to have
 shrunk, @command{tail} prints a message saying the file has been truncated

diff --git a/src/tail.c b/src/tail.c
index 28a0e26..8195dee 100644 (file)
--- a/src/tail.c
+++ b/src/tail.c
@@ -316,14 +316,10 @@ GB 1000*1000*1000, G 1024*1024*1024, and so on for T, P, E, Z, Y.\n\
      fputs (_("\
 With --follow (-f), tail defaults to following the file descriptor, which\n\
 means that even if a tail'ed file is renamed, tail will continue to track\n\
-its end.  \
-"), stdout);
-     fputs (_("\
-This default behavior is not desirable when you really want to\n\
+its end.  This default behavior is not desirable when you really want to\n\
 track the actual name of the file, not the file descriptor (e.g., log\n\
 rotation).  Use --follow=name in that case.  That causes tail to track the\n\
-named file by reopening it periodically to see if it has been removed and\n\
-recreated by some other program.\n\
+named file in a way that accommodates renaming, removal and creation.\n\
 "), stdout);
       emit_ancillary_info ();
     }