From owner-freebsd-newbies@FreeBSD.ORG Fri Dec 24 04:43:00 2004 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-newbies@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id ADA3B16A4CE for ; Fri, 24 Dec 2004 04:43:00 +0000 (GMT) Received: from mail1.WPI.EDU (mail1.WPI.EDU [130.215.36.102]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 2192E43D5F for ; Fri, 24 Dec 2004 04:43:00 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from emerson@WPI.EDU) Received: from mcafee.wpi.edu (mcafee.WPI.EDU [130.215.36.86]) by mail1.WPI.EDU (8.13.2/8.13.2) with SMTP id iBO4gxGq032533; Thu, 23 Dec 2004 23:42:59 -0500 Received: from smtp.WPI.EDU(130.215.36.186) by mcafee.wpi.edu via csmap id 32ee6d6c_5566_11d9_8010_00304811e63a_24307; Thu, 23 Dec 2004 23:42:21 -0500 (EST) Received: from ccc1.wpi.edu (ccc1.WPI.EDU [130.215.36.142]) by smtp.WPI.EDU (8.13.2/8.13.2) with ESMTP id iBO4gIuN028758; Thu, 23 Dec 2004 23:42:18 -0500 Received: from ccc1.wpi.edu (localhost.localdomain [127.0.0.1]) by ccc1.wpi.edu (8.13.2/8.13.2) with ESMTP id iBO4gIP8011666; Thu, 23 Dec 2004 23:42:18 -0500 Received: from localhost (emerson@localhost) by ccc1.wpi.edu (8.13.2/8.13.2) with ESMTP id iBO4gIvE011663; Thu, 23 Dec 2004 23:42:18 -0500 X-Authentication-Warning: ccc1.wpi.edu: emerson owned process doing -bs Date: Thu, 23 Dec 2004 23:42:18 -0500 (EST) From: Scott Emerson Longley To: Sally Hines In-Reply-To: <000401c4e96a$4213de20$6400a8c0@musal32mpxlg> Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII cc: 'Mervin McDougall' cc: freebsd-newbies@freebsd.org cc: 'Tyler Gee' Subject: RE: Manpage interpreter X-BeenThere: freebsd-newbies@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list List-Id: Gathering place for new users List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Fri, 24 Dec 2004 04:43:00 -0000 On Thu, 23 Dec 2004, Sally Hines wrote: > I want to thank everyone for offering me good information on automating the > ports update. My real question, though, is how to read and understand > manpages. Where is the interpreter? I know I am not the only noob to ever > have this problem? I can solve my own problems much better if I can > interpret the instructions. > > Thank you again, > > Sally Hines Finding good documentation can be a really big challenge. I've had success with a multi-pronged approach involving many sources. However, for those times when manpages are best, I've found that there are certain sections that are immediately useful, and they're mostly near the bottom. If there's an "examples" section, it's likely to prove relevant to simple queries. If you're not sure you're looking at the right page, skip straight to the "see also" section to get your bearings. --generally, if I don't see see something at the top that seems immediately relevant, I skip straight to all the little sections at the bottom before digging into the middle. Even a one-liner "history" section has occasionally given me some context that I needed. Also, try searching the manpage for words relevent to your question (type "/", then a word). Different Unix-derived sytems have similar commands, so it might also be useful to check out their manpages, if you have access to them. Having said all that, often, the right book will save lots of time. I figure that when someone has bothered to put a cohesive chapter together that covers the subject of your question, that's worth an awful lot. The FreeBSD Handbook is the obvious choice for a book (and a good choide, I believe). If you like examples (and have non-FreeBSD-specific questions), I highly reccomend "Unix Power Tools". Also, "Absolute BSD" provides a nice refrain from the often overly-detail-oriented nature of manpages. I hope my scatter-brained answer is helpful :-) -Scott Longley