Domain of the Bored

gcal: The Gregorian calendar program (GNU cal) 3.01

I installed gcal to test my ISO 8601 parser. I have some differences with it.

First, if you type gcal --help, you get this:

gcal: The Gregorian calendar program (GNU cal) 3.01

Copyright (c) 1994, 95, 96, 1997, 2000 Thomas Esken

Usage:  gcal [[OPTION...] [%DATE] [@FILE...]] [COMMAND]

Usage:  gcal [-|/{[?|h|??|hh|L|V]|{CDFIPHKNORSXbcfijnpqrsuv}}] [[MM] [YYYY]]

  -h,  --help          Display this help text and quit program
  -hh, --usage[=ARG]   Display extended help text and quit program
  -L,  --license       Display software license and quit program
  -V,  --version       Display version information and quit program
  -p,  --pager         Direct output through external `less' pager

Use `gcal --usage[=ARG]|[=?] --pager' for more information.

Email bug reports to 
or (if this fails) to .

So the --help option returns no actual help. Seeing this, I tried -hh. Here are SOME of the options it prints out.

--exit-status-help-non-zero

Set EXIT status of program to 127 on `--help' etc.

-R ARG --response-file=ARG

Create response file for the `@FILE' option ARG = Store arguments of command line in file ARG

-S ARG --shell-script=ARG

Create shell script which contains the arguments of command line ARG = File name of the shell script

--export-date-variables

Export local date variables from file to file

--export-text-variables

Export local text variables from file to file

-u --suppress-calendar

Suppress output of calendar sheet explicitly

-p --pager

Direct output through simple internal pager

--mail[=ARG]

Send output via `mail' program to user [ARG] = Email address, otherwise eMail is send to user `boredzo'

--adjust-value=ARG

Set reference value for rise/set time respectively shadow length ARG = Angular value respectively factor in range: -90.0...+90.0

--atmosphere=ARG

Set base data of Earth's atmosphere ARG = Air pressure and temperature separated by `,' character Air pressure in Millibar (actual: 1013.250) Air temperature in degrees Celsius (actual: +15.000)

--limit

Limit rise/set times of Sun to the day

--precise

Represent astronomical times and data with utmost precision

--execute-command

Execute `%![ARG]' shell commands and "TVAR[?|\:]COMMAND" assigments

finally, at the very end:

------------------------oOO      \\\_''/      OOo---------------------------
Thomas Esken               O     (/o-o\)     O  eMail: deleted
Im Hagenfeld 84                 ((  ^  ))       Phone: +49 deleted
D-48147 Muenster; Germany    \____) ~ (____/    MotD : 2old2live, 2young2die

So:

1. Why does this program reproduce functions (e.g. pipe to mail) already provided by the shell?
2. Why does it need to know about the atmosphere? (UPDATE 2006-12-06: Thomas Ptacek says that it is to compute sunrise times.)
3. WHY does it have such an awful email signature in there?

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