alt Hacker NewsDisagree. stdout is only reserved for actual processed command output. It may be empty, it may be invalid because the input was invalid (shit in, shit out), but it may never be things intended for a human to read.
If one wants to use a pager (like I sometimes do, though most of the time I just scroll up), they'll just use `foo 2>&1 | less`.
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GNU offers guidance[1] to output --help to stdout, but it's not against the law to do it your way.
1: https://www.gnu.org/prep/standards/html_node/_002d_002dhelp....
In the case of `git log -100 | grep FOO`, the log output should go to stdout.
In the case of `git diff | grep FOO`, the diff output should go to stdout.
In the case of `git --help | grep FOO` the help output should go to stdout.
In the case of `git --omg-wtf | grep FOO`, it's fine if there is only output on stderr.
I see you've never tried to run command --help | less
> stdout is only reserved for actual processed command output
If user asks a program to print help message, the help text is the processed command output!