man-pages-2.26 is released

Michael Kerrisk
2006-03-21T00:48:33Z

Gidday,

I recently released man-pages-2.26, 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.

I'd like to request that any kernel developers who make changes
to the kernel-userland interface (e.g., system calls, /proc,
netlink interfaces, etc.) do some or (preferably) all of the
following when initially submitting the patch (to, for example,
the -mm tree):

a) CC me at mtk-manpages@gmx.net,
b) include or point me at some text that explains the
interface change (more on the preferred ways for doing
that below), and
c) include or point me at userland test programs that
demonstrate/test the interface.

This will likely have two effects:

* The process of getting the change documented in the man-pages
once it enters mainline will be speeded up.

* I will try testing the change (as time permits). Even if
you do c) above, I will typically still write my own
test program(s), since I often like to test things in
additional ways.

New pages
---------

openat.2
mtk
New page describing openat(2), added in kernel 2.6.16,
and some notes on rationale for the at*(2) system calls.

mbind.2
Andi Kleen, Christoph Lameter, mtk
Added MPOL_MF_MOVE and MPOL_MF_MOVE_ALL descriptions,
from numactl-0.9.2 man page.

fexecve.3
mtk
New page describing fexecve(3).

futimes.3
mtk
New page describing futimes(3).

Apologies: The "Changes" file in the release mentions a new unshare.2
page documenting the unshare() system call that is new in kernel
2.6.16. This manual page will only appear with man-pages-2.27.

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

poll.2
mtk
Added discussion of ppoll(2), which is new in 2.6.16.

select.2
mtk
Updated to reflect the fact that pselect() has been implemented
in the kernel in 2.6.16; various other minor wording changes.

netlink.7
Hasso Tepper
Substantial updates to various parts of this page.

pthreads.7
mtk
Updated to reflect that the NPTL limitation that only the main
thread could call setsid() and setpgid() was removed in 2.6.16.

socket.7
mtk
Documented SO_SNDBUFFORCE and SO_RCVBUFFORCE socket options,
new in 2.6.14.

==========

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