Writing and reading man pages
The Man to Know
Man pages provide essential information but may seem cryptic if you're not familiar with their structure. We explain how they're organized so you can get the most out of them.
Few features are more closely associated with Unix-like systems than man pages [1]. First used in 1971 [2], man pages quickly became the standard form for online help. Even the GNU Project's preference for help formatted in Texinfo has done little to affect man's popularity, because, more often than not, man pages are available alongside Texinfo files.
Many users have come to take man pages for granted, using only the basic man command and never considering how they are created or structured. However, even if you never write a man page yourself, knowing how they are organized externally and internally, as well as their conventions, can help you both find and read them more efficiently.
Man Sections
Most man pages are organized in sections or chapters (Table 1). To avoid confusion between files of the same name in different sections, man files take the format NAME.SECTION.bz (or .gz). Topics are usually referred to with the file name, followed by the section in parentheses (e.g., mount(8)).
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
CIQ Releases Security-Hardened Version of Rocky Linux
If you're looking for an enterprise-grade Linux distribution that is hardened for business use, there's a new version of Rocky Linux that's sure to make you and your company happy.
-
Gnome’s Dash to Panel Extension Gets a Massive Update
If you're a fan of the Gnome Dash to Panel extension, you'll be thrilled to hear that a new version has been released with a dock mode.
-
Blender App Makes it to the Big Screen
The animated film "Flow" won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature at the 97th Academy Awards held on March 2, 2025 and Blender was a part of it.
-
Linux Mint Retools the Cinnamon App Launcher
The developers of Linux Mint are working on an improved Cinnamon App Launcher with a better, more accessible UI.
-
New Linux Tool for Security Issues
Seal Security is launching a new solution to automate fixing Linux vulnerabilities.
-
Ubuntu 25.04 Coming Soon
Ubuntu 25.04 (Plucky Puffin) has been given an April release date with many notable updates.
-
Gnome Developers Consider Dropping RPM Support
In a move that might shock a lot of users, the Gnome development team has proposed the idea of going straight up Flatpak.
-
openSUSE Tumbleweed Ditches AppArmor for SELinux
If you're an openSUSE Tumbleweed user, you can expect a major change to the distribution.
-
Plasma 6.3 Now Available
Plasma desktop v6.3 has a couple of pretty nifty tricks up its sleeve.
-
LibreOffice 25.2 Has Arrived
If you've been hoping for a release that offers more UI customizations, you're in for a treat.