man-pages-2.27 is released

Michael Kerrisk
2006-03-26T20:05:47Z

Gidday,

I recently released man-pages-2.27, which can be found at:

ftp://ftp.win.tue.nl/pub/linux-local/manpages

or:

ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/docs/manpages
or mirrors: ftp://ftp.XX.kernel.org/pub/linux/docs/manpages

This release includes various changes that may be significant
for readers of this list, including documentation on various new
kernel 2.6.16 interfaces, listed further down in this message.

At the moment, manual pages for the following system calls
are notably absent:

add_key(2) (new in 2.6.10)
keyctl(2) (new in 2.6.10)
request_key(2) (new in 2.6.10)
See:
Documentation/keys.txt
Documentation/keys-request-key.txt

ioprio_get(2) (new in kernel 2.6.13)
ioprio_set(2) (new in kernel 2.6.13)
See Documentation/block/ioprio.txt

restart_syscall(2) (new in 2.6)
kexec_load(2) (new in kernel 2.6.13)

migrate_pages(2) (new in 2.6.16)
See Documentation/vm/page_migration

New manual pages for the above system calls would be most
welcome.

2.27 Changes
============

Notable changes in this release include the following:

New pages
---------

ushare.2
mtk, with reference to documentation by Janak Desai
New page describing unshare(2), added in kernel 2.6.16.

Changes to individual pages
---------------------------

ptrace.2
Chuck Ebbert, with assistance from Daniel Jacobowitz,
Paolo (Blaisorblade) Giarrusso, and Charles P. Wright;
after a suggestion from Heiko Carstens.
Document the following ptrace requests:
PTRACE_SETOPTIONS (2.4.6)
plus associated flags:
PTRACE_O_TRACESYSGOOD (2.4.6)
PTRACE_O_TRACEFORK (2.5.46)
PTRACE_O_TRACEVFORK (2.5.46)
PTRACE_O_TRACECLONE (2.5.46)
PTRACE_O_TRACEEXEC (2.5.46)
PTRACE_O_TRACEVFORKDONE (2.5.60)
PTRACE_O_TRACEEXIT (2.5.60)
PTRACE_SETSIGINFO (2.3.99-pre6)
PTRACE_GETSIGINFO (2.3.99-pre6)
PTRACE_GETEVENTMSG (2.5.46)
PTRACE_SYSEMU (since Linux 2.6.14)
PTRACE_SYSEMU_SINGLESTEP (since Linux 2.6.14)

sched_get_priority_max.2
sched_setscheduler.2
sched_setparam.2
mtk, Ingo Molnar
Modified to document SCHED_BATCH policy, new in kernel 2.6.16.

Text describing SCHED_BATCH was added to sched_setscheduler.2,
and was drawn in part from Ingo Molnar's description in the
mail message containing the patch that implemented this policy.

Various other minor rewordings and formatting fixes.

proc.5
mtk, using text from Documentation/filesystems/proc.txt
Document /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches, new in kernel 2.6.16.
mtk, using information from ChangeLog-2.6.14.
Document /proc/PID/smaps, new in kernel 2.6.14.

capabilities.7
mtk
Noted affect of CAP_SYS_NICE for mbind(MPOL_MF_MOVE_ALL).

pthreads.7
mtk
Kernel 2.6.16 eliminated buggy behaviour with respect to
the alternate signal stack.

==========

The man-pages set contains sections 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7 of
the manual pages. These sections describe the following:

2: (Linux) system calls
3: (libc) library functions
4: Devices
5: File formats and protocols
7: Overview pages, conventions, etc.

As far as this list is concerned the most relevant parts are:
all of sections 2 and 4, which describe kernel-userland interfaces;
in section 5, the proc(5) manual page, which attempts (it's always
catching up) to be a comprehensive description of /proc; and
various pages in section 7, some of which are overview pages of
kernel features (e.g., networking protocols).

If you make a change to a kernel-userland interface, or observe
a discrepancy between the manual pages and reality, would you
please send me (at mtk-manpages@gmx.net ) one of the following
(in decreasing order of preference):

1. An in-line "diff -u" patch with text changes for the
corresponding manual page. (The most up-to-date version
of the manual pages can always be found at
ftp://ftp.win.tue.nl/pub/linux-local/manpages or
ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/docs/manpages .)

2. Some raw text describing the changes, which I can then