DATE(1fun)

📦 version 2.3, in ubuntu jammy

💖 DATE(1fun) — the manual page, but make it a group chat 💖

okay bestie, sit DOWN. this is date(1fun) from the 1fun manual section and it's genuinely one of the most unhinged pages in the whole tree, but also lowkey iconic. it's about getting and printing a date. not the timestamp kind. the other kind. 🫶

✨ NAME ✨

date — get and print a date 🌸

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

date [-s] [-local] [-k] [-blind] option=value...

✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

so like, if you run it with no arguments at all, a date gets selected at random. pure chaos. manifestation. whatever the universe hands you. 🌈

but the moment you pass an argument, you're restricting the search pool of dates. narrowing it down. being picky. and the page says — and I quote the vibe — hopefully these arguments will not carry forward into the actual date. 😭 fr fr, the flags are just for finding them, bestie.

also, important: only the superuser can select dates by name. regular users, keep your hands off the name field.

the -s option registers you in the date database and — if you're not -local — posts your vitals to alt.personals (and, optionally, alt.sex.wanted). it's giving "putting yourself out there" but in a very literal, very Usenet way. 💅

the -k option selects a date, but does not make any further arrangements. window shopping. no follow-through. no cap.

🎀 Ranges, arrays and multiple responses 🎀

  • Ranges are specified with parentheses and brackets: (18,25) is 18 to 25 exclusive, while [18,25] is 18 to 25 inclusive. parentheses = not included, brackets = included. that's the whole bit.
  • An array of selections is given with braces, like {blonde, brunette, redhead}.
  • Multiple responses are separated with commas, like sex=female,yes,please. yes, that's the actual example. yes, it's a whole sentence. slay.

🌟 the options 🌟

  • -blind — To arrange a blind date. 🙈
  • view[=must] — View prospective date's picture. to locate a picture, date searches several picture databases, including FaceSaver (uunet.uu.net), alt.sec.pictures, alt.binaries.pictures.erotica, and several FTP gif archives. you must have access to the Internet for FTP to work, so like, no internet no picture, periodt.

if view=must is set, and date is unable to find a picture, a request will be automatically posted to alt.binaries.pictures.d asking for one. it's out here asking the whole internet for you. iconic.

options to xv(1) may follow "view" or be put in the environment parameter XV.

okay so the following options restrict the search pool to those who have supplied the necessary information. so if they didn't fill out the form, they're not showing up in your results. vibe check. 🦋

  • dim=range,range,range — the dimensions situation. that's the syntax, three ranges, comma-separated.
  • height=range — Synonyms are also supported: midget, twerp, short, beanstalk, giant, basketball-player.
  • weight=range — Synonyms: toothpic, feather, wide-load, blimp.
  • age=range — Synonyms: juvenile, underage, thirty-nine, over-the-hill, {mom, dad}, {grandma, grandpa}.
  • sex={male, female}[,{yes, no, maybe}][,opt=sex(6) options] — if sex=yes and you are registering, your vitals are posted to alt.sex.wanted in addition to alt.personals. double posting. double the reach. 🔥
  • race={white, black, native-american, ...} — Various slang terms are also supported.
  • marriage={flirting, noway, maybe, once, twice, several} — Seriousness and experience.
  • kids={never, rightaway, oops, have, want}[,{one, two, three, four, bunch}] — Domestic leanings.
  • cooking={never, loveit, when_hungry} — the culinary alignment.
  • color — Synonym for race.
  • religion={Atheist, Moslem, Lutheran, Catholic, ...} — the whole roster, apparently.
  • temper={mellow, quiet, hot-head} — pick your chaos level.
  • interests={lists of possible interests} — lists. of possible. interests.
  • name=lastname,firstname — Specify name of your date. Perfect for hitting on. Names can only be specified by super-user. 👑

✨ FILES ✨

  • $HOME/.daterc — Optional place to store options, for frequent daters. (frequent daters bestie, they said it not me 😭)
  • $HOME/.datehist — History of dates, to avoid duplication. no reruns. no recycled situationships.
  • $HOME/.persona — Options describing yourself, if you haven't registered in the database. Note that the first time you use date and supply this information, you are registered in the blind-date database. so like, be aware. it just happens. 🫣

✨ SEE ALSO ✨

  • man(1), woman(1), sex(6) 🌈
  • RFC1036: Standard for exchange of USENET messages, M. Horton and R. Adams.
  • A Primer on how to work with the USENET community, Chuq Von Rospach and Gene net.god Spafford.

✨ DIAGNOSTICS ✨

  • Exit status is 0 on success, 1 on complete failure to get a date. 💀
  • You are not superuser: date not set — if you try to use the name parameter but are not the super-user.
  • Vitals posted to alt.personals [,alt.sex.wanted] — when you register globally.

✨ AUTHOR ✨

Won't admit to it! 🙈

and that's the whole page bestie, 4th Berkeley Distribution, dated January 1, 1992 — so basically vintage, so basically a classic, and we love that for it. go forth and date. 🎀💖✨

📦 where this page comes from