I found it interesting to compare the four chown manuals (POSIX, GNU, FreeBSD and OpenBSD) and can see why the author may have been confused about the -h switch.
The POSIX manual is the only one that explicitly states that -h applies to each file operand (as opposed to files encountered during the traversal from -R). The SYNOPSIS section also makes it clear how it differs.
FreeBSD kind of gets it right, but without the word "operand" it could easily be misinterpreted.
GNU uses the word "referenced" which could also be open to misinterpretation.
The OpenBSD manual doesn't really make it clear at all, but kind of implies it with the comment about -h and -R options being mutually exclusive.
The POSIX manual is the only one that explicitly states that -h applies to each file operand (as opposed to files encountered during the traversal from -R). The SYNOPSIS section also makes it clear how it differs.
FreeBSD kind of gets it right, but without the word "operand" it could easily be misinterpreted.
GNU uses the word "referenced" which could also be open to misinterpretation.
The OpenBSD manual doesn't really make it clear at all, but kind of implies it with the comment about -h and -R options being mutually exclusive.