From owner-freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org  Tue Oct  3 20:30:09 2017
Return-Path: <owner-freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org>
Delivered-To: freebsd-hackers@mailman.ysv.freebsd.org
Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org
 [IPv6:2001:1900:2254:206a::19:1])
 by mailman.ysv.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 50E72E23A1E
 for <freebsd-hackers@mailman.ysv.freebsd.org>;
 Tue,  3 Oct 2017 20:30:09 +0000 (UTC)
 (envelope-from allanjude@freebsd.org)
Received: from mx1.scaleengine.net (mx1.scaleengine.net [209.51.186.6])
 (using TLSv1.2 with cipher ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384 (256/256 bits))
 (Client did not present a certificate)
 by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 3417935B3
 for <freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org>; Tue,  3 Oct 2017 20:30:08 +0000 (UTC)
 (envelope-from allanjude@freebsd.org)
Received: from Ticonderoga.HML3.ScaleEngine.net
 (senat1-01.HML3.ScaleEngine.net [209.51.186.5])
 (Authenticated sender: allanjude.freebsd@scaleengine.com)
 by mx1.scaleengine.net (Postfix) with ESMTPSA id B1E9E13CE4
 for <freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org>; Tue,  3 Oct 2017 20:30:02 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: Re: vmstat's w column
To: freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org
References: <20171003202150.GA42540@mail.michaelwlucas.com>
From: Allan Jude <allanjude@freebsd.org>
Message-ID: <47508b41-7a13-9b85-e432-82d5837023a5@freebsd.org>
Date: Tue, 3 Oct 2017 16:31:17 -0400
User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; FreeBSD amd64; rv:52.0) Gecko/20100101
 Thunderbird/52.3.0
MIME-Version: 1.0
In-Reply-To: <20171003202150.GA42540@mail.michaelwlucas.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
Content-Language: en-US
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
X-BeenThere: freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org
X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.23
Precedence: list
List-Id: Technical Discussions relating to FreeBSD
 <freebsd-hackers.freebsd.org>
List-Unsubscribe: <https://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/options/freebsd-hackers>, 
 <mailto:freebsd-hackers-request@freebsd.org?subject=unsubscribe>
List-Archive: <http://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-hackers/>
List-Post: <mailto:freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org>
List-Help: <mailto:freebsd-hackers-request@freebsd.org?subject=help>
List-Subscribe: <https://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-hackers>, 
 <mailto:freebsd-hackers-request@freebsd.org?subject=subscribe>
X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 03 Oct 2017 20:30:09 -0000

On 10/03/2017 16:21, Michael W. Lucas wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> (This query brought to you courtesy of tech reviews on my new freeBSD
> book.)
> 
> On my -current box, vmstat(8) says:
> 
>      procs   Information about the numbers of processes in various states.
> 
>              r       in run queue
>              b       blocked for resources (i/o, paging, etc.)
>              w       runnable or short sleeper (< 20 secs) but swapped
> 
> I've had a couple people report to me that they have w entries even
> when only a few kilobytes are swapped out.
> 
> Is the man page wrong? Or should I tell them to report that output as
> a bug?
> 
> Thanks,
> ==ml
> 
> 
> 

I wonder if the explanation needs a comma.
It could be read as: running, or [short sleeper that is swapped out]

But I don't actually know.

-- 
Allan Jude