Manpage names are not tied to command names at all. Sure, sections 1 and 8 are conventionally sorted by command name, but the other sections have different purp

Manpage names are not tied to command names at all. Sure, sections 1 and 8 are conventionally sorted by command name, but the other sections have different purposes. Sections 2 and 3 document system calls and library calls, one function at a time: man 2 fork man 3 fread Section 5 documents file formats and conventions: man 5 passwd man 5 rsyncd.conf And section 7 is described by `man man` as "miscellaneous". There is some nice high-level overview documentation hidden in there, e.g.: man 7 signal man 7 socket My all-time favorite is from section 7 is `man ascii`. Very handy when you're ever pushing bits. NOTE: If these commands fail for you, check if you have the "man-pages" package installed (may be called different in your distro).