5 ms·

Some other useful man pages: hier - Explains the filesystem layout ascii - An ASCII table builtins - Things your shell does without external binaries signal

Some other useful man pages: hier - Explains the filesystem layout ascii - An ASCII table builtins - Things your shell does without external binaries signal - Includes a table of all the signal numbers

lacoolj 3y ago
dang definitely woulda loved this 20 years ago when i was just starting out with linux. very neat thanks
tryauuum 3y ago
also man bash. you will learn what >() and <() mean I was never able to read the entirety of man bash though
- vaylian 3y ago
  Maybe I'm using the wrong search regex, but I can't find an explanation for >() or <() in `man bash`, `man builtins` or `man bash-builtins`.
  - lubutu 3y ago
    It's in bash(1) under "Process Substitution" — https://manpages.debian.org/bookworm/bash/bash.1.en.html#Process_Substitution https://manpages.debian.org/bookworm/bash/bash.1.en.html#Pro...
  - neuromanser 3y ago
    If your MANPAGER is less, you can type ^R (CTRL+R) in the search prompt (/) to make it interpret the search string literally (disable regular expressions). As noted in less(1).
Arnavion 3y ago
There's also man(1) for the table of what the (#) section numbers mean. >builtins - Things your shell does without external binaries My OpenSUSE install doesn't have builtins. I just look in bash(1). >signal - Includes a table of all the signal numbers Specifically signal(7)
dfee 3y ago
I consider myself quite proficient on the command line; intermediate would be fair to say. However, I just can’t really parse man pages. I’ve never sat down and just figured out the numbering scheme and how to efficiently read/parse them. Occasionally I’ll read a man page online, but a quick blog post seems to be an easier reach, or even GPT these days. For example, hier: https://linux.die.net/man/7/hier https://linux.die.net/man/7/hier — Also, a good opportunity to complain about -h/--help flags not being universally recognized by bins.
- mid-kid 3y ago
  The source of the manpages on die.net is always questionable to me. I've found they're often out of date or for questionable versions of software. https://manpages.debian.org/ https://manpages.debian.org/ has all the relevant man pages and is always up to date. (and it allows you to pick between different providers of the page)
- suprjami 3y ago
  Look at `man man`, the numbers are explained: https://www.man7.org/linux/man-pages/man1/man.1.html https://www.man7.org/linux/man-pages/man1/man.1.html
- Delk 3y ago
  Do you feel the same way about reading technical documentation or specifications vs. digested explanations and instructions in general? Most man pages are probably closer to the former in spirit.
  - dfee 3y ago
    Nope. I enjoy reading the official docs for languages like Python (narrative or API). For Java I'm fine reading signatures; it's OK. I've not found a lot of good docs in that language, TBH. Even TypeScript can be alright, though I find myself navigating to definition a lot. That said, it's highly proj. dependent. E.g. fp-ts is hard to parse, though perhaps rewarding and succinct when you make progress. I've written my fair share of documentation, too. E.g.: http://python-forge.readthedocs.io http://python-forge.readthedocs.io It might be that manpages lack links, and it's hard to hop back and forth, as I can't set markers like in vim, so my controls are just up/down.
mid-kid 3y ago
I consider the linux-man-pages project (usually simply "man-pages" in most linux distributions) to be the single best reference manual for UNIX C programming. It has extensive descriptions, examples, warns about libc/platform differences, and allows discovery of new/similar functions through the SEE ALSO section at the end of the page. https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/dir_section_3.html https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/dir_section_3.html
lloeki 3y ago
some BSD ones: sysexits(3) - meaningful exit codes style(9) - C coding style style.Makefile(9) - other coding styles (here, Makefile)
WizardClickBoy 3y ago
Not useful exactly but I occasionally enjoy typing `man -a tee` into my terminal. Not even an Easter egg but it usually cheers me up (jury's out on du ./gong)
nabla9 3y ago
The problem with man pages is that they are hard to discover if you don't know the name.
- fellerts 3y ago
  The canonical answer to your problem is APROPOS(1). It searches man pages for keywords. Say you remember there was a man page describing the filesystem hierarchy, you'd run: $ apropos "filesystem hierarchy" hier (7) - description of the filesystem hierarchy $ man 7 hier # you're off! now you "just" need to remember that apropos is a thing...
  - semanticc 3y ago
    The only problem with `apropos` is that it returns so many irrelevant results: $ apropos 'count lines' | wc -l 167 $ apropos 'count lines' | head AllPlanes(3), BlackPixel(3), WhitePixel(3), ConnectionNumber(3), DefaultColormap(3), DefaultDepth(3), XListDepths(3), DefaultGC(3), DefaultRootWindow(3), DefaultScreenOfDisplay(3), DefaultScreen(3), DefaultVisual(3), DisplayCells(3), DisplayPlanes(3), DisplayString(3), XMaxRequestSize(3), XExtendedMaxRequestSize(3), LastKnownRequestProcessed(3), NextRequest(3), ProtocolVersion(3), ProtocolRevision(3), QLength(3), RootWindow(3), ScreenCount(3), ScreenOfDisplay(3), ServerVendor(3), VendorRelease(3) - Display macros and functions EVP_PKEY_asn1_find(3ssl), EVP_PKEY_asn1_find_str(3ssl), EVP_PKEY_asn1_get_count(3ssl), EVP_PKEY_asn1_get0(3ssl), EVP_PKEY_asn1_get0_info(3ssl) - enumerate public key ASN.1 methods EVP_PKEY_meth_get_count(3ssl), EVP_PKEY_meth_get0(3ssl), EVP_PKEY_meth_get0_info(3ssl) - enumerate public key methods OCSP_REQUEST_new(3ssl), OCSP_REQUEST_free(3ssl), OCSP_request_add0_id(3ssl), OCSP_request_sign(3ssl), OCSP_request_add1_cert(3ssl), OCSP_request_onereq_count(3ssl), OCSP_request_onereq_get0(3ssl) - OCSP request functions OCSP_resp_find_status(3ssl), OCSP_resp_count(3ssl), OCSP_resp_get0(3ssl), OCSP_resp_find(3ssl), OCSP_single_get0_status(3ssl), OCSP_resp_get0_produced_at(3ssl), OCSP_resp_get0_signature(3ssl), OCSP_resp_get0_tbs_sigalg(3ssl), OCSP_resp_get0_respdata(3ssl), OCSP_resp_get0_certs(3ssl), OCSP_resp_get0_signer(3ssl), OCSP_resp_get0_id(3ssl), OCSP_resp_get1_id(3ssl), OCSP_check_validity(3ssl), OCSP_basic_verify(3ssl) - OCSP response utility functions OPENSSL_malloc_init(3ssl), OPENSSL_malloc(3ssl), OPENSSL_zalloc(3ssl), OPENSSL_realloc(3ssl), OPENSSL_free(3ssl), OPENSSL_clear_realloc(3ssl), OPENSSL_clear_free(3ssl), OPENSSL_cleanse(3ssl), CRYPTO_malloc(3ssl), CRYPTO_zalloc(3ssl), CRYPTO_realloc(3ssl), CRYPTO_free(3ssl), OPENSSL_strdup(3ssl), OPENSSL_strndup(3ssl), OPENSSL_memdup(3ssl), OPENSSL_strlcpy(3ssl), OPENSSL_strlcat(3ssl), CRYPTO_strdup(3ssl), CRYPTO_strndup(3ssl), OPENSSL_mem_debug_push(3ssl), OPENSSL_mem_debug_pop(3ssl), CRYPTO_mem_debug_push(3ssl), CRYPTO_mem_debug_pop(3ssl), CRYPTO_clear_realloc(3ssl), CRYPTO_clear_free(3ssl), CRYPTO_malloc_fn(3ssl), CRYPTO_realloc_fn(3ssl), CRYPTO_free_fn(3ssl), CRYPTO_get_mem_functions(3ssl), CRYPTO_set_mem_functions(3ssl), CRYPTO_get_alloc_counts(3ssl), CRYPTO_set_mem_debug(3ssl), CRYPTO_mem_ctrl(3ssl), CRYPTO_mem_leaks(3ssl), CRYPTO_mem_leaks_fp(3ssl), CRYPTO_mem_leaks_cb(3ssl), OPENSSL_MALLOC_FAILURES(3ssl), OPENSSL_MALLOC_FD(3ssl) - Memory allocation functions PKCS5_PBKDF2_HMAC(3ssl), PKCS5_PBKDF2_HMAC_SHA1(3ssl) - password based derivation routines with salt and iteration count RSA_set0_key(3ssl), RSA_set0_factors(3ssl), RSA_set0_crt_params(3ssl), RSA_get0_key(3ssl), RSA_get0_factors(3ssl), RSA_get0_crt_params(3ssl), RSA_get0_n(3ssl), RSA_get0_e(3ssl), RSA_get0_d(3ssl), RSA_get0_p(3ssl), RSA_get0_q(3ssl), RSA_get0_dmp1(3ssl), RSA_get0_dmq1(3ssl), RSA_get0_iqmp(3ssl), RSA_get0_pss_params(3ssl), RSA_clear_flags(3ssl), RSA_test_flags(3ssl), RSA_set_flags(3ssl), RSA_get0_engine(3ssl), RSA_get_multi_prime_extra_count(3ssl), RSA_get0_multi_prime_factors(3ssl), RSA_get0_multi_prime_crt_params(3ssl), RSA_set0_multi_prime_params(3ssl), RSA_get_version(3ssl) - Routines for getting and setting data in an RSA object TIFFFieldPassCount(3tiff) - get whether to pass a count to TIFFGetField/TIFFSetField TIFFFieldReadCount(3tiff) - get number of values to be read from field
grose 3y ago
`man ascii` changed my life. No more ad-ridden ascii table websites. Glorious.

lacoolj 3y ago

dang definitely woulda loved this 20 years ago when i was just starting out with linux. very neat thanks

tryauuum 3y ago

also man bash. you will learn what >() and <() mean I was never able to read the entirety of man bash though

vaylian 3y ago
Maybe I'm using the wrong search regex, but I can't find an explanation for >() or <() in `man bash`, `man builtins` or `man bash-builtins`.
- lubutu 3y ago
  It's in bash(1) under "Process Substitution" — https://manpages.debian.org/bookworm/bash/bash.1.en.html#Process_Substitution https://manpages.debian.org/bookworm/bash/bash.1.en.html#Pro...
- neuromanser 3y ago
  If your MANPAGER is less, you can type ^R (CTRL+R) in the search prompt (/) to make it interpret the search string literally (disable regular expressions). As noted in less(1).

Arnavion 3y ago

There's also man(1) for the table of what the (#) section numbers mean. >builtins - Things your shell does without external binaries My OpenSUSE install doesn't have builtins. I just look in bash(1). >signal - Includes a table of all the signal numbers Specifically signal(7)

dfee 3y ago

I consider myself quite proficient on the command line; intermediate would be fair to say. However, I just can’t really parse man pages. I’ve never sat down and just figured out the numbering scheme and how to efficiently read/parse them. Occasionally I’ll read a man page online, but a quick blog post seems to be an easier reach, or even GPT these days. For example, hier: https://linux.die.net/man/7/hier https://linux.die.net/man/7/hier — Also, a good opportunity to complain about -h/--help flags not being universally recognized by bins.

mid-kid 3y ago
The source of the manpages on die.net is always questionable to me. I've found they're often out of date or for questionable versions of software. https://manpages.debian.org/ https://manpages.debian.org/ has all the relevant man pages and is always up to date. (and it allows you to pick between different providers of the page)
suprjami 3y ago
Look at `man man`, the numbers are explained: https://www.man7.org/linux/man-pages/man1/man.1.html https://www.man7.org/linux/man-pages/man1/man.1.html
Delk 3y ago
Do you feel the same way about reading technical documentation or specifications vs. digested explanations and instructions in general? Most man pages are probably closer to the former in spirit.
- dfee 3y ago
  Nope. I enjoy reading the official docs for languages like Python (narrative or API). For Java I'm fine reading signatures; it's OK. I've not found a lot of good docs in that language, TBH. Even TypeScript can be alright, though I find myself navigating to definition a lot. That said, it's highly proj. dependent. E.g. fp-ts is hard to parse, though perhaps rewarding and succinct when you make progress. I've written my fair share of documentation, too. E.g.: http://python-forge.readthedocs.io http://python-forge.readthedocs.io It might be that manpages lack links, and it's hard to hop back and forth, as I can't set markers like in vim, so my controls are just up/down.

mid-kid 3y ago

I consider the linux-man-pages project (usually simply "man-pages" in most linux distributions) to be the single best reference manual for UNIX C programming. It has extensive descriptions, examples, warns about libc/platform differences, and allows discovery of new/similar functions through the SEE ALSO section at the end of the page. https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/dir_section_3.html https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/dir_section_3.html

lloeki 3y ago

some BSD ones: sysexits(3) - meaningful exit codes style(9) - C coding style style.Makefile(9) - other coding styles (here, Makefile)

WizardClickBoy 3y ago

Not useful exactly but I occasionally enjoy typing `man -a tee` into my terminal. Not even an Easter egg but it usually cheers me up (jury's out on du ./gong)

nabla9 3y ago

The problem with man pages is that they are hard to discover if you don't know the name.

fellerts 3y ago
The canonical answer to your problem is APROPOS(1). It searches man pages for keywords. Say you remember there was a man page describing the filesystem hierarchy, you'd run: $ apropos "filesystem hierarchy" hier (7) - description of the filesystem hierarchy $ man 7 hier # you're off! now you "just" need to remember that apropos is a thing...
- semanticc 3y ago
  The only problem with `apropos` is that it returns so many irrelevant results: $ apropos 'count lines' | wc -l 167 $ apropos 'count lines' | head AllPlanes(3), BlackPixel(3), WhitePixel(3), ConnectionNumber(3), DefaultColormap(3), DefaultDepth(3), XListDepths(3), DefaultGC(3), DefaultRootWindow(3), DefaultScreenOfDisplay(3), DefaultScreen(3), DefaultVisual(3), DisplayCells(3), DisplayPlanes(3), DisplayString(3), XMaxRequestSize(3), XExtendedMaxRequestSize(3), LastKnownRequestProcessed(3), NextRequest(3), ProtocolVersion(3), ProtocolRevision(3), QLength(3), RootWindow(3), ScreenCount(3), ScreenOfDisplay(3), ServerVendor(3), VendorRelease(3) - Display macros and functions EVP_PKEY_asn1_find(3ssl), EVP_PKEY_asn1_find_str(3ssl), EVP_PKEY_asn1_get_count(3ssl), EVP_PKEY_asn1_get0(3ssl), EVP_PKEY_asn1_get0_info(3ssl) - enumerate public key ASN.1 methods EVP_PKEY_meth_get_count(3ssl), EVP_PKEY_meth_get0(3ssl), EVP_PKEY_meth_get0_info(3ssl) - enumerate public key methods OCSP_REQUEST_new(3ssl), OCSP_REQUEST_free(3ssl), OCSP_request_add0_id(3ssl), OCSP_request_sign(3ssl), OCSP_request_add1_cert(3ssl), OCSP_request_onereq_count(3ssl), OCSP_request_onereq_get0(3ssl) - OCSP request functions OCSP_resp_find_status(3ssl), OCSP_resp_count(3ssl), OCSP_resp_get0(3ssl), OCSP_resp_find(3ssl), OCSP_single_get0_status(3ssl), OCSP_resp_get0_produced_at(3ssl), OCSP_resp_get0_signature(3ssl), OCSP_resp_get0_tbs_sigalg(3ssl), OCSP_resp_get0_respdata(3ssl), OCSP_resp_get0_certs(3ssl), OCSP_resp_get0_signer(3ssl), OCSP_resp_get0_id(3ssl), OCSP_resp_get1_id(3ssl), OCSP_check_validity(3ssl), OCSP_basic_verify(3ssl) - OCSP response utility functions OPENSSL_malloc_init(3ssl), OPENSSL_malloc(3ssl), OPENSSL_zalloc(3ssl), OPENSSL_realloc(3ssl), OPENSSL_free(3ssl), OPENSSL_clear_realloc(3ssl), OPENSSL_clear_free(3ssl), OPENSSL_cleanse(3ssl), CRYPTO_malloc(3ssl), CRYPTO_zalloc(3ssl), CRYPTO_realloc(3ssl), CRYPTO_free(3ssl), OPENSSL_strdup(3ssl), OPENSSL_strndup(3ssl), OPENSSL_memdup(3ssl), OPENSSL_strlcpy(3ssl), OPENSSL_strlcat(3ssl), CRYPTO_strdup(3ssl), CRYPTO_strndup(3ssl), OPENSSL_mem_debug_push(3ssl), OPENSSL_mem_debug_pop(3ssl), CRYPTO_mem_debug_push(3ssl), CRYPTO_mem_debug_pop(3ssl), CRYPTO_clear_realloc(3ssl), CRYPTO_clear_free(3ssl), CRYPTO_malloc_fn(3ssl), CRYPTO_realloc_fn(3ssl), CRYPTO_free_fn(3ssl), CRYPTO_get_mem_functions(3ssl), CRYPTO_set_mem_functions(3ssl), CRYPTO_get_alloc_counts(3ssl), CRYPTO_set_mem_debug(3ssl), CRYPTO_mem_ctrl(3ssl), CRYPTO_mem_leaks(3ssl), CRYPTO_mem_leaks_fp(3ssl), CRYPTO_mem_leaks_cb(3ssl), OPENSSL_MALLOC_FAILURES(3ssl), OPENSSL_MALLOC_FD(3ssl) - Memory allocation functions PKCS5_PBKDF2_HMAC(3ssl), PKCS5_PBKDF2_HMAC_SHA1(3ssl) - password based derivation routines with salt and iteration count RSA_set0_key(3ssl), RSA_set0_factors(3ssl), RSA_set0_crt_params(3ssl), RSA_get0_key(3ssl), RSA_get0_factors(3ssl), RSA_get0_crt_params(3ssl), RSA_get0_n(3ssl), RSA_get0_e(3ssl), RSA_get0_d(3ssl), RSA_get0_p(3ssl), RSA_get0_q(3ssl), RSA_get0_dmp1(3ssl), RSA_get0_dmq1(3ssl), RSA_get0_iqmp(3ssl), RSA_get0_pss_params(3ssl), RSA_clear_flags(3ssl), RSA_test_flags(3ssl), RSA_set_flags(3ssl), RSA_get0_engine(3ssl), RSA_get_multi_prime_extra_count(3ssl), RSA_get0_multi_prime_factors(3ssl), RSA_get0_multi_prime_crt_params(3ssl), RSA_set0_multi_prime_params(3ssl), RSA_get_version(3ssl) - Routines for getting and setting data in an RSA object TIFFFieldPassCount(3tiff) - get whether to pass a count to TIFFGetField/TIFFSetField TIFFFieldReadCount(3tiff) - get number of values to be read from field

grose 3y ago

`man ascii` changed my life. No more ad-ridden ascii table websites. Glorious.