<s>
A	O
man	B-Protocol
page	I-Protocol
(	O
short	O
for	O
manual	B-Protocol
page	I-Protocol
)	O
is	O
a	O
form	O
of	O
software	O
documentation	O
usually	O
found	O
on	O
a	O
Unix	B-Application
or	O
Unix-like	B-Operating_System
operating	I-Operating_System
system	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Topics	O
covered	O
include	O
computer	B-Application
programs	I-Application
(	O
including	O
library	B-Library
and	O
system	B-Operating_System
calls	I-Operating_System
)	O
,	O
formal	O
standards	O
and	O
conventions	O
,	O
and	O
even	O
abstract	O
concepts	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
user	O
may	O
invoke	O
a	O
man	B-Protocol
page	I-Protocol
by	O
issuing	O
the	O
man	O
command	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
default	O
,	O
man	O
typically	O
uses	O
a	O
terminal	B-General_Concept
pager	I-General_Concept
program	O
such	O
as	O
more	B-Device
or	O
less	B-Application
to	O
display	O
its	O
output	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Man	B-Protocol
pages	I-Protocol
are	O
often	O
referred	O
to	O
as	O
an	O
on-line	O
or	O
online	O
form	O
of	O
software	O
documentation	O
,	O
even	O
though	O
the	O
man	O
command	B-Application
does	O
not	O
require	O
internet	O
access	O
,	O
dating	O
back	O
to	O
the	O
times	O
when	O
printed	O
out-of-band	O
manuals	O
were	O
the	O
norm	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
first	O
two	O
years	O
of	O
the	O
history	B-Operating_System
of	I-Operating_System
Unix	I-Operating_System
,	O
no	O
documentation	O
existed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Unix	B-Protocol
Programmer	I-Protocol
's	I-Protocol
Manual	I-Protocol
was	O
first	O
published	O
on	O
November	O
3	O
,	O
1971	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
actual	O
man	B-Protocol
pages	I-Protocol
were	O
written	O
by	O
Dennis	O
Ritchie	O
and	O
Ken	O
Thompson	O
at	O
the	O
insistence	O
of	O
their	O
manager	O
Doug	O
McIlroy	O
in	O
1971	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Aside	O
from	O
the	O
man	B-Protocol
pages	I-Protocol
,	O
the	O
Programmer	O
's	O
Manual	O
also	O
accumulated	O
a	O
set	O
of	O
short	O
papers	O
,	O
some	O
of	O
them	O
tutorials	O
(	O
e.g.	O
</s>
<s>
for	O
general	O
Unix	B-Application
usage	O
,	O
the	O
C	B-Language
programming	I-Language
language	I-Language
,	O
and	O
tools	O
such	O
as	O
Yacc	B-Application
)	O
,	O
and	O
others	O
more	B-Device
detailed	O
descriptions	O
of	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
features	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
printed	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
manual	O
initially	O
fit	O
into	O
a	O
single	O
binder	O
,	O
but	O
as	O
of	O
PWB/UNIX	B-Operating_System
and	O
the	O
7th	B-Operating_System
Edition	I-Operating_System
of	O
Research	B-Operating_System
Unix	I-Operating_System
,	O
it	O
was	O
split	O
into	O
two	O
volumes	O
with	O
the	O
printed	O
man	B-Protocol
pages	I-Protocol
forming	O
Volume	O
1	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Later	O
versions	O
of	O
the	O
documentation	O
imitated	O
the	O
first	O
man	B-Protocol
pages	I-Protocol
 '	O
terseness	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ritchie	O
added	O
a	O
"	O
How	O
to	O
get	O
started	O
"	O
section	O
to	O
the	O
Third	B-Operating_System
Edition	I-Operating_System
introduction	O
,	O
and	O
Lorinda	O
Cherry	O
provided	O
the	O
"	O
Purple	O
Card	O
"	O
pocket	O
reference	O
for	O
the	O
Sixth	B-Operating_System
and	O
Seventh	B-Operating_System
Editions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Versions	O
of	O
the	O
software	O
were	O
named	O
after	O
the	O
revision	O
of	O
the	O
manual	O
;	O
the	O
seventh	B-Operating_System
edition	O
of	O
the	O
Unix	B-Protocol
Programmer	I-Protocol
's	I-Protocol
Manual	I-Protocol
,	O
for	O
example	O
,	O
came	O
with	O
the	O
7th	B-Operating_System
Edition	I-Operating_System
or	O
Version	B-Operating_System
7	I-Operating_System
of	O
Unix	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
the	O
Fourth	B-Operating_System
Edition	O
the	O
man	B-Protocol
pages	I-Protocol
were	O
formatted	O
using	O
the	O
troff	B-Language
typesetting	O
package	O
and	O
its	O
set	O
of	O
-man	O
macros	O
(	O
which	O
were	O
completely	O
revised	O
between	O
the	O
Sixth	B-Operating_System
and	O
Seventh	B-Operating_System
Editions	O
of	O
the	O
Manual	O
,	O
but	O
have	O
since	O
not	O
drastically	O
changed	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
the	O
time	O
,	O
the	O
availability	O
of	O
online	O
documentation	O
through	O
the	O
manual	B-Protocol
page	I-Protocol
system	O
was	O
regarded	O
as	O
a	O
great	O
advance	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
this	O
day	O
,	O
virtually	O
every	O
Unix	B-Application
command	I-Application
line	O
application	O
comes	O
with	O
a	O
man	B-Protocol
page	I-Protocol
,	O
and	O
many	O
Unix	B-Application
users	O
perceive	O
a	O
program	O
's	O
lack	O
of	O
man	B-Protocol
pages	I-Protocol
as	O
a	O
sign	O
of	O
low	O
quality	O
;	O
indeed	O
,	O
some	O
projects	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
Debian	O
,	O
go	O
out	O
of	O
their	O
way	O
to	O
write	O
man	B-Protocol
pages	I-Protocol
for	O
programs	O
lacking	O
one	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
modern	O
descendants	O
of	O
4.4BSD	B-Operating_System
also	O
distribute	O
man	B-Protocol
pages	I-Protocol
as	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
primary	O
forms	O
of	O
system	O
documentation	O
(	O
having	O
replaced	O
the	O
old	O
-man	O
macros	O
with	O
the	O
newer	O
-mdoc	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
was	O
a	O
hidden	O
Easter	O
egg	O
in	O
the	O
man-db	B-Protocol
version	O
of	O
the	O
man	O
command	B-Application
that	O
would	O
cause	O
the	O
command	B-Application
to	O
return	O
"	O
gimme	O
gimme	O
gimme	O
"	O
when	O
run	O
at	O
00:30	O
(	O
a	O
reference	O
to	O
the	O
ABBA	O
song	O
Gimme	O
!	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
default	O
format	O
of	O
man	B-Protocol
pages	I-Protocol
is	O
troff	B-Language
,	O
with	O
either	O
the	O
macro	O
package	O
man	O
(	O
appearance	O
oriented	O
)	O
or	O
mdoc	O
(	O
semantic	O
oriented	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
makes	O
it	O
possible	O
to	O
typeset	O
a	O
man	B-Protocol
page	I-Protocol
into	O
PostScript	B-Language
,	O
PDF	B-Application
,	O
and	O
various	O
other	O
formats	O
for	O
viewing	O
or	O
printing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
Unix	B-Application
systems	I-Application
have	O
a	O
package	O
for	O
the	O
command	B-Application
,	O
which	O
enables	O
users	O
to	O
browse	O
their	O
man	B-Protocol
pages	I-Protocol
using	O
an	O
HTML	B-Language
browser	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Systems	O
with	O
groff	O
and	O
man-db	B-Protocol
should	O
use	O
the	O
higher-quality	O
native	O
HTML	B-Language
output	O
(	O
)	O
instead	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
GNU	B-Application
Emacs	I-Application
program	O
WoMan	O
(	O
from	O
"	O
WithOut	O
man	O
"	O
)	O
allows	O
to	O
browse	O
man	B-Protocol
pages	I-Protocol
from	O
the	O
editor	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2010	O
,	O
OpenBSD	B-Operating_System
deprecated	O
troff	B-Language
for	O
formatting	O
man	B-Protocol
pages	I-Protocol
in	O
favour	O
of	O
mandoc	B-Application
,	O
a	O
specialised	O
compiler/formatter	O
for	O
man	B-Protocol
pages	I-Protocol
with	O
native	O
support	O
for	O
output	O
in	O
PostScript	B-Language
,	O
HTML	B-Language
,	O
XHTML	B-Language
,	O
and	O
the	O
terminal	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
meant	O
to	O
only	O
support	O
a	O
subset	O
of	O
troff	B-Language
used	O
in	O
manual	B-Protocol
pages	I-Protocol
,	O
specifically	O
those	O
using	O
mdoc	O
macros	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Quite	O
a	O
few	O
websites	O
offer	O
online	O
access	O
to	O
manual	B-Protocol
pages	I-Protocol
from	O
various	O
Unix-like	B-Operating_System
systems	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
February	O
2013	O
,	O
the	O
BSD	B-Operating_System
community	O
saw	O
a	O
new	O
open	O
source	O
service	O
launched	O
,	O
which	O
unified	O
and	O
shortened	O
access	O
to	O
the	O
man.cgi	O
scripts	O
of	O
the	O
major	O
modern	O
BSD	B-Operating_System
projects	O
through	O
a	O
unique	O
nginx-based	O
deterministic	O
URL	O
shortening	O
service	O
for	O
the	O
*	O
BSD	B-Operating_System
man	B-Protocol
pages	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
Linux	B-Application
,	O
a	O
man7.org	O
service	O
has	O
been	O
set	O
up	O
to	O
serve	O
manuals	O
specific	O
to	O
the	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
read	O
a	O
manual	B-Protocol
page	I-Protocol
for	O
a	O
Unix	B-Application
command	I-Application
,	O
a	O
user	O
can	O
type	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
section	O
refers	O
to	O
different	O
ways	O
the	O
topic	O
might	O
be	O
referenced	O
-	O
for	O
example	O
,	O
as	O
a	O
system	B-Operating_System
call	I-Operating_System
,	O
or	O
a	O
shell	O
(	O
command	B-Application
line	O
)	O
command	B-Application
or	O
package	O
,	O
or	O
a	O
package	O
's	O
configuration	O
file	O
,	O
or	O
as	O
a	O
coding	O
construct	O
/	O
header	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
same	O
page	O
name	O
may	O
appear	O
in	O
more	B-Device
than	O
one	O
section	O
of	O
the	O
manual	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
when	O
the	O
names	O
of	O
system	B-Operating_System
calls	I-Operating_System
,	O
user	O
commands	O
,	O
or	O
macro	O
packages	O
coincide	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
Linux	B-Application
and	O
BSD	B-Operating_System
derivatives	O
the	O
same	O
invocation	O
would	O
be	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
which	O
searches	O
for	O
printf	B-Language
in	O
section	O
3	O
of	O
the	O
man	B-Protocol
pages	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
manual	O
is	O
generally	O
split	O
into	O
eight	O
numbered	O
sections	O
,	O
organized	O
as	O
follows	O
(	O
on	O
Research	B-Operating_System
Unix	I-Operating_System
,	O
BSD	B-Operating_System
,	O
macOS	B-Application
and	O
Linux	B-Application
)	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
POSIX	O
system	B-Operating_System
calls	I-Operating_System
are	O
often	O
present	O
in	O
both	O
sections	O
2	O
and	O
3	O
,	O
where	O
section	O
2	O
contains	O
the	O
system	B-Operating_System
call	I-Operating_System
's	O
documentation	O
from	O
the	O
local	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
and	O
section	O
3	O
contains	O
the	O
system	B-Operating_System
call	I-Operating_System
's	O
documentation	O
from	O
the	O
POSIX	O
Programmer	O
's	O
Manual	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unix	B-Operating_System
System	I-Operating_System
V	I-Operating_System
uses	O
a	O
similar	O
numbering	O
scheme	O
,	O
except	O
in	O
a	O
different	O
order	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
sections	O
are	O
further	O
subdivided	O
by	O
means	O
of	O
a	O
suffix	O
;	O
for	O
example	O
,	O
in	O
some	O
systems	O
,	O
section	O
3C	O
is	O
for	O
C	B-Language
library	I-Language
calls	O
,	O
3M	O
is	O
for	O
the	O
math	O
library	B-Library
,	O
and	O
so	O
on	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
All	O
man	B-Protocol
pages	I-Protocol
follow	O
a	O
common	O
layout	O
that	O
is	O
optimized	O
for	O
presentation	O
on	O
a	O
simple	O
ASCII	B-Protocol
text	I-Protocol
display	O
,	O
possibly	O
without	O
any	O
form	O
of	O
highlighting	O
or	O
font	O
control	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
NAME	O
The	O
name	O
of	O
the	O
command	B-Application
or	O
function	O
,	O
followed	O
by	O
a	O
one-line	O
description	O
of	O
what	O
it	O
does	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SYNOPSIS	O
In	O
the	O
case	O
of	O
a	O
command	B-Application
,	O
a	O
formal	O
description	O
of	O
how	O
to	O
run	O
it	O
and	O
what	O
command	B-Application
line	O
options	O
it	O
takes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
program	O
functions	O
,	O
a	O
list	O
of	O
the	O
parameters	O
the	O
function	O
takes	O
and	O
which	O
header	B-Language
file	I-Language
contains	O
its	O
declaration	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
DESCRIPTION	O
A	O
textual	O
description	O
of	O
the	O
functioning	O
of	O
the	O
command	B-Application
or	O
function	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Other	O
sections	O
may	O
be	O
present	O
,	O
but	O
these	O
are	O
not	O
well	O
standardized	O
across	O
man	B-Protocol
pages	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Manual	B-Protocol
pages	I-Protocol
can	O
be	O
written	O
either	O
in	O
the	O
old	O
macros	O
,	O
the	O
new	O
macros	O
,	O
or	O
a	O
combination	O
of	O
both	O
(	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
newer	O
language	O
is	O
more	B-Device
semantic	O
in	O
nature	O
,	O
and	O
contains	O
specialized	O
macros	O
for	O
most	O
standard	O
sections	O
such	O
as	O
program	O
name	O
,	O
synopsis	O
,	O
function	O
names	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
name	O
of	O
the	O
authors	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
information	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
implement	O
a	O
semantic	O
search	O
for	O
manuals	O
by	O
programs	O
such	O
as	O
mandoc	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Both	O
the	O
mandoc	B-Application
and	O
the	O
groff	O
projects	O
consider	O
the	O
preferred	O
format	O
for	O
new	O
documents	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
man	B-Protocol
pages	I-Protocol
are	O
,	O
to	O
troff	B-Language
,	O
text	O
laid	O
out	O
using	O
10-point	O
Roman	O
type	O
,	O
this	O
distinction	O
is	O
usually	O
moot	O
because	O
man	B-Protocol
pages	I-Protocol
are	O
viewed	O
in	O
the	O
terminal	O
(	O
TTY	O
)	O
instead	O
of	O
laid	O
out	O
on	O
paper	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
BSD	B-Operating_System
mandoc	B-Application
however	O
only	O
supports	O
bold	O
and	O
underlined	O
(	O
as	O
a	O
replacement	O
for	O
italics	O
)	O
text	O
via	O
the	O
typewriter	O
backspace-then-overstrike	O
sequence	O
,	O
which	O
needs	O
to	O
be	O
translated	O
into	O
ECMA-48	O
by	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
tools	O
have	O
been	O
used	O
to	O
convert	O
documents	O
in	O
a	O
less	B-Application
contrived	O
format	O
to	O
manual	B-Protocol
pages	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Examples	O
include	O
GNU	O
's	O
,	O
which	O
takes	O
a	O
output	O
and	O
some	O
additional	O
content	O
to	O
generate	O
a	O
manual	B-Protocol
page	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
manual	O
would	O
be	O
barely	O
more	B-Device
useful	O
than	O
the	O
said	O
output	O
,	O
but	O
for	O
GNU	O
programs	O
this	O
is	O
not	O
an	O
issue	O
as	O
texinfo	B-Application
is	O
the	O
main	O
documentation	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
number	O
of	O
tools	O
,	O
including	O
pandoc	B-Language
,	O
ronn	O
,	O
and	O
md2man	O
support	O
conversion	O
from	O
Markdown	O
to	O
manual	B-Protocol
pages	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
DocBook	B-Protocol
has	O
an	O
inbuilt	O
man(7 )	O
converter	O
of	O
appalling	O
quality	O
,	O
according	O
to	O
mandoc	B-Application
's	O
author	O
who	O
wrote	O
a	O
separate	O
mdoc(7 )	O
converter	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Man	B-Protocol
pages	I-Protocol
are	O
usually	O
written	O
in	O
English	O
,	O
but	O
translations	O
into	O
other	O
languages	O
may	O
be	O
available	O
on	O
the	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
GNU	O
and	O
the	O
mandoc	B-Application
is	O
known	O
to	O
search	O
for	O
localized	O
manual	B-Protocol
pages	I-Protocol
under	O
subdirectories	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Few	O
alternatives	O
to	O
man	O
have	O
enjoyed	O
much	O
popularity	O
,	O
with	O
the	O
possible	O
exception	O
of	O
GNU	B-Application
Project	I-Application
's	I-Application
"	O
info	B-Protocol
"	O
system	O
,	O
an	O
early	O
and	O
simple	O
hypertext	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
,	O
some	O
Unix	B-Application
GUI	B-Application
applications	O
(	O
particularly	O
those	O
built	O
using	O
the	O
GNOME	B-Application
and	O
KDE	B-Application
development	O
environments	O
)	O
now	O
provide	O
end-user	O
documentation	O
in	O
HTML	B-Language
and	O
include	O
embedded	O
HTML	B-Language
viewers	O
such	O
as	O
yelp	O
for	O
reading	O
the	O
help	O
within	O
the	O
application	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
HTML	B-Language
system	O
in	O
Emacs	B-Application
is	O
also	O
slated	O
to	O
replace	O
texinfo	B-Application
.	O
</s>
