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confusing output when running `gpg --delete-secrete-keys` without name
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Description

Not sure if this is the right tag / category, sorry for that, feel free to move to feature request if it fits better there.

The output of gpg --delete-secrete-keys and similar without name is confusing:

$ gpg --delete-secret-keys 
gpg (GnuPG) 2.2.4; Copyright (C) 2017 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

$ gpg --delete-secret-and-public-keys 
gpg (GnuPG) 2.2.4; Copyright (C) 2017 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

$ gpg --delete-keys 
gpg (GnuPG) 2.2.4; Copyright (C) 2017 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

Would it be easier on the user to write a small message saying that a user name is required rather?

Results obtained on Ubuntu 18.04:

$ gpg --version
gpg (GnuPG) 2.2.4
libgcrypt 1.8.1

Details

Version
2.2.4

Related Objects

Event Timeline

PWRzTOtacorTPq7KNW4oFec8F renamed this task from confusing output when running ```gpg --delete-secrete-keys``` without name to confusing output when running `gpg --delete-secrete-keys` without name.May 28 2020, 10:07 PM
PWRzTOtacorTPq7KNW4oFec8F created this task.
PWRzTOtacorTPq7KNW4oFec8F updated the task description. (Show Details)
werner triaged this task as Normal priority.May 29 2020, 5:12 PM
werner added a project: gnupg (gpg22).
werner added a subscriber: werner.

Although this is a standard behaviour for Unix tools, you are right that it makes sense to tell the user about the problems. And well, the version info should not appear either.

werner claimed this task.