From: Pádraig Brady <P@draigBrady.com>
Date: Fri, 14 Nov 2025 13:23:09 +0000 (+0000)
Subject: doc: shred: clarify what --verbose outputs
X-Git-Url: http://git.ipfire.org/cgi-bin/gitweb.cgi?a=commitdiff_plain;h=faf8d8998c2abe435a1ce32d1e72a8cf10155197;p=thirdparty%2Fcoreutils.git

doc: shred: clarify what --verbose outputs

* doc/coreutils.texi (shred invocation): Give more details on what
--verbose outputs, to give some indication of its utility.
* src/shred.c (usage): Likewise.  Also since we're changing the string,
split out translations to give translators more granular translations.
---

diff --git a/doc/coreutils.texi b/doc/coreutils.texi
index b4206069db..0218a76c84 100644
--- a/doc/coreutils.texi
+++ b/doc/coreutils.texi
@@ -10883,6 +10883,7 @@ synchronous metadata updates.
 @opindex -v
 @opindex --verbose
 Display to standard error all status updates as sterilization proceeds.
+This details each data and metadata operation as it is performed.
 
 @item -x
 @itemx --exact
diff --git a/src/shred.c b/src/shred.c
index f2af243980..a054aa5ce5 100644
--- a/src/shred.c
+++ b/src/shred.c
@@ -187,9 +187,15 @@ If FILE is -, shred standard output.\n\
       fputs (_("\
   -u             deallocate and remove file after overwriting\n\
       --remove[=HOW]  like -u but give control on HOW to delete;  See below\n\
-  -v, --verbose  show progress\n\
+"), stdout);
+      fputs (_("\
+  -v, --verbose  show details of data and metadata operations performed\n\
+"), stdout);
+      fputs (_("\
   -x, --exact    do not round file sizes up to the next full block;\n\
                    this is the default for non-regular files\n\
+"), stdout);
+      fputs (_("\
   -z, --zero     add a final overwrite with zeros to hide shredding\n\
 "), stdout);
       fputs (HELP_OPTION_DESCRIPTION, stdout);