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    That last sentence highlights a problem with having examples in manuals. One takes the examples that best fits one's needs without fully understanding the implications of the particular application of the tool. And later, one can just say "I did it like this", but not really why or what it meant. Commented Aug 29, 2016 at 9:23
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    @Kusalananda In my defense, I have read about the various options and about the sub-commands I've actually needed - just not the whole thing (yet). It's simply not relevant for my use... Despite the danger of misuse, examples do serve a purpose - and if all you need is just the most basic usage of a command, reading about all the bells and whistles are hardly necessary. Commented Aug 29, 2016 at 13:03
  • @Kusalananda It might also depend on the commands. Most Unix and GNU utils I know are well documented, but you need the documentation to do anything sensible. The newer Solaris commands (especially zfs) are designed pretty naturally. For example, zfs destroy pool/filesystem is basic usage and fine for 90% of use cases. Short options like -r for recursive are more special and need consultation before use, because they might have unintended side-effects. Commented Aug 30, 2016 at 11:30