Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Lp (Unix)

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was Merge into System V printing system. The consensus seems to be uniform and even includes the original nominator. And the development of the article after the nomination effectively changes the nature of the article to the extent that this nomination no longer applies. And given my own knowledge of the computers, it seems everything that has happened was a good faith successful attempt that tallies common sense. (Non-admin closure ahead of time per snowball clause) Fleet Command (talk) 03:58, 8 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Lp (Unix)

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This article does not establish its notability by showing significant coverage in reliable secondary sources that are independent of the subject itself. Codename Lisa (talk) 03:35, 4 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This debate has been included in the list of Software-related deletion discussions. Ascii002Talk Contribs GuestBook 04:03, 4 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Delete; agree with nomination. Titanium Dragon (talk) 05:20, 4 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Merge to ~~List of Unix utilities~~ for now, since currently the article has little concrete information further than the current entry in the list. IMO if there can be well/multiple-source cited paragraphs on, say, the history and differences with the similar commands (e.g. expanding paragraphs 2 and 3) then it would make a good case to keep. 野狼院ひさし _{Hisashi Yarouin} 05:57, 4 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I am not sure a merger is feasible, given the format of "List of Unix utilities". Best regards, Codename Lisa (talk) 06:02, 4 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Keep—Rather than list sources here, it might just be easier for me to rewrite the article. If I don't get to it in the next few days, I'll put a few cites here. Lesser Cartographies (talk) 06:52, 4 September 2014 (UTC) Struck !vote; changed to merge+redirect below. Lesser Cartographies (talk) 16:08, 7 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Keep There are numerous books which establish the notability of the topic - see Introduction to Unix and Shell Programming, for example. A general prohibition of content about computer commands does not seem sensible; it would be like forbidding content about mathematical operations and symbols. If the current content of the page is not liked then there are obvious alternatives to deletion such as merger with spooling and our editing policy is to prefer these. Andrew (talk) 08:19, 6 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Notability is different from bombardment. The subject of the computer books that cover Lp is Linux and Unix, not Lp because their coverage is both circumstantial (as opposed to direct) and passing. See Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Windows Calendar for a similar case. A good way of distinguishing true notability is looking at its impact. Best regards, Codename Lisa (talk) 13:19, 6 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Lisa. lp was the name of the UNIX System V printing system as well as the name of one of its commands (contrast with lpr and LPRng on BSD systems, and CUPS on Linux systems). As such, several books on System V administration devote a chapter to lp, the associated commands, and the configuration of the system. On the article talk page I've added a list of quotations culled from 13 books in the UMinn library; the selection here is good but not great, and I may be able to find several more in my campus library or UC Berkeley (but I won't be back there for a month). I know you work in this area a lot. Do you have any old UNIX manuals that you could dust off? What I've found so far is good for factual background, but I'm lacking the context of why lpr differed so much from lp, and why lpr lasted so much longer. Thanks! Lesser Cartographies (talk) 22:34, 6 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Hi, LC. I am afraid I don't have any manuals left. And I doubt if they ever count as evidence of notability. But the best way to keep this article is to merge it to a Unix printing topic. Actually, you've linked to a couple of the articles that might just do. You see, we might save more than one article from deletion. Best regards, Codename Lisa (talk) 01:19, 7 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Update—I've rewritten the article, and in the process of doing so noticed that someone smarter than I am had linked to System V printing system, which is what Lp (Unix) actually is (well, in my opinion, anyway). Could interested parties take a look and see if they think lp still needs its own article, and if it doesn't, should we be thinking about a merge+redirect? (As an aside, there was some good-but-unsourced stuff in the previous version that didn't carry over to the new version. Please feel unusually free to revert if you'd like the article to retain its previous focus.) Lesser Cartographies (talk) 02:00, 7 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

@Lesser Cartographies: You mean saving two articles instead of just one? Definitely. While a command does not have impact, a printing system definitely does. I support the merger 100%. Too bad I can't close this nomination myself. Best regards, Codename Lisa (talk) 02:12, 7 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Merge+Redirect—Merge the content of Lp (Unix) into System V printing system, then redirect Lp (Unix) there. Codename Lisa mentioned they were willing to withdraw the nom given the rewrite, in which case we can do a Speedy Keep here followed by a WP:BOLD merge+redirect. Titanium Dragon, Hisashiyarouin, Andrew Davidson: if you have time and inclination, take a look at rewrite and let me know if you'd prefer another path. Thanks! Lesser Cartographies (talk) 16:08, 7 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Keep or Merge with System V printing system. Given Lesser Cartographies' major rewrite, this is now a well referenced start-class article--nice work, LC! Just on that basis, I would recommend keep. But as LC notes, there is a large overlap with System V printing system, so it would be reasonable to merge these two articles. In any case, there is no longer a compelling case for deletion. --Mark viking (talk) 17:01, 7 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Keep or Merge with System V printing system after great rewrite by LC (). List of Unix utilities seems a much less appropriate target per Lisa. Striking target above. 野狼院ひさし _{Hisashi Yarouin} 01:42, 8 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.