Slackware Linux Essentials
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Chapter 2 Help

+ +

Table of Contents
2.1 System Help
2.2 Online Help

+ +

Often there are times when you might need help with a specific command, setting up a +program, or getting a piece of hardware to work. Maybe you simply want to understand a +given command better, or see what other options are available to use with it. Luckily, +there are a variety of ways that you can get the help you're looking for. When you +install Slackware you have the option of installing packages from the “F” +series which includes FAQs and HOWTOs. Programs also come with help about their options, +configuration files, and usage.

+ +

2.1 System Help

+ +

2.1.1 `man`

+ +

The man command (short for “manual”) is the +traditional form of online documentation in Unix and Linux operating systems. Comprised +of specially formatted files, the “man pages”, are written for the vast +majority of commands and are distributed with the software itself. Executing man somecommand will display the man page for (naturally) the +command specified, in our example this would be the imaginary program somecommand.

+ +

As you might imagine, the amount of man pages can quickly add up, becoming overly +confusing and seriously complicated, even for an advanced user. So, for this reason, man +pages are grouped into enumerated sections. This system has been around for a very long +time; enough so that you will often see commands, programs, and even programming library +functions referred to with their man section number.

+ +

For example:

+ +

You might see a reference to man(1). The numbering tells you +that “man” is documented in section 1 (user +commands); you can specify that you want the section 1 man page for “man” +with the command man 1 man. Specifying the section that man +should look in is useful in the case of multiple items with the same name.

+ +

Table 2-1. Man Page Sections

+ + +++ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

Section	Contents
Section 1	user commands (intro only)
Section 2	system calls
Section 3	C library calls
Section 4	devices (e.g., `hd`, `sd`)
Section 5	file formats and protocols (e.g., wtmp, `/etc/passwd`, +nfs)
Section 6	games (intro only)
Section 7	conventions, macro packages, etc. (e.g., nroff, ascii)
Section 8	system administration (intro only)

+ +

In addition to man(1), there are the commands whatis(1) and apropos(1) available to you, +whose shared purpose is to make it easier to find information in the man system.

+ +

The command whatis gives a very brief description of system +commands, somewhat in the style of a pocket command reference.

+ +

Example:

+ + + + + +

+% whatis whatis
+whatis (1)  - search the whatis database for complete words
+

+ +

The command apropos is used to search for a man page +containing a given keyword.

+ +

Example:

+ + + + + +

+% apropos wav
+cdda2wav    (1)  - a sampling utility that dumps CD audio data into wav sound files
+netwave_cs  (4)  - Xircom Creditcard Netwave device driver
+oggdec      (1)  - simple decoder, Ogg Vorbis file to PCM audio file (WAV or RAW)
+wavelan     (4)  - AT&T GIS WaveLAN ISA device driver
+wavelan_cs  (4)  - AT&T GIS WaveLAN PCMCIA device driver
+wvlan_cs    (4)  - Lucent WaveLAN/IEEE 802.11 device driver
+

+ +

If you'd like further information on any of these commands, read their man pages for +the details. ;)

+ +

2.1.2 The `/usr/doc` Directory

+ +

The source for most packages that we build comes with some sort of documentation: +README files, usage instructions, license files, etc. Any sort of documentation that +comes with the source is included and installed on your system in the /usr/doc directory. Each program will (usually) install its own +documentation in the order of:

+ +

/usr/doc/$program-$version

+ +

Where $program is the name of the program you are +wanting to read about, and $version is (obviously) the +appropriate version of software package installed on your system.

+ +

For example, to read the documentation for the command man(1) +you would want to cd to:

+ + + + + +

+% cd /usr/doc/man-$version
+

+ +

If reading the appropriate man page(s) doesn't provide you with enough information, or +address what you're looking for in particular, the /usr/doc +directory should be your next stop.

+ +

2.1.3 HOWTOs and +mini-HOWTOs

+ +

It is in the truest spirit of the Open Source community that brings us to the +HOWTO/mini-HOWTO collection. These files are exactly what they sound like - documents and +guides describing how to do stuff. If you installed the HOWTO collection, the HOWTOs will +be installed to /usr/doc/Linux-HOWTOs and the mini-HOWTOs to +/usr/doc/Linux-mini-HOWTOs.

+ +

Also included in the same package series is a collection of FAQs, which is an acronym +which stands for

+ +

+ ++ + + + + + + + + + + + + +

Frequently

Asked

Questions

+ +

These documents are written in a “Question and answer” style for +(surprise) Frequently Asked Questions. The FAQs can often be a very useful place to look +if you're just looking for a “Quick Fix” to something. If you decide to +install the FAQs during setup, you will find them installed to the /usr/doc/Linux-FAQs directory.

+ +

These files are well worth reading whenever you're not quite sure how to proceed with +something. They cover an amazing range of topics, more often than not in a surprisingly +detailed manner. Good stuff!

Chapter 2 Help

2.1 System Help

2.1.1 man

2.1.2 The /usr/doc Directory

2.1.3 HOWTOs and +mini-HOWTOs

2.1.1 `man`

2.1.2 The `/usr/doc` Directory