From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Tue May 3 12:37:03 2011 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id BEB57106566B for ; Tue, 3 May 2011 12:37:03 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from roberthuff@rcn.com) Received: from smtp01.lnh.mail.rcn.net (smtp11.lnh.mail.rcn.net [207.172.157.101]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 71C518FC18 for ; Tue, 3 May 2011 12:37:02 +0000 (UTC) Received: from mr16.lnh.mail.rcn.net ([207.172.157.36]) by smtp02.lnh.mail.rcn.net with ESMTP; 03 May 2011 08:37:03 -0400 Received: from smtp04.lnh.mail.rcn.net (smtp04.lnh.mail.rcn.net [207.172.157.104]) by mr16.lnh.mail.rcn.net (MOS 4.2.3-GA) with ESMTP id BBD27916; Tue, 3 May 2011 08:37:01 -0400 Received: from 209-6-91-204.c3-0.smr-ubr1.sbo-smr.ma.cable.rcn.com (HELO jerusalem.litteratus.org.litteratus.org) ([209.6.91.204]) by smtp04.lnh.mail.rcn.net with ESMTP; 03 May 2011 08:37:01 -0400 From: Robert Huff MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Message-ID: <19903.63213.569627.11053@jerusalem.litteratus.org> Date: Tue, 3 May 2011 08:37:01 -0400 To: FreeBSD Questions In-Reply-To: <17F138516AEC9FE14F4A4B1A@mac-pro.magehandbook.com> References: <000001cc091a$e041f380$a0c5da80$@com> <20110503024427.2c0ace89.freebsd@edvax.de> <4DBF556A.1010507@daleco.biz> <20110503094604.efec8f3b.freebsd@edvax.de> <17F138516AEC9FE14F4A4B1A@mac-pro.magehandbook.com> X-Mailer: VM 7.17 under 21.5 (beta28) "fuki" XEmacs Lucid X-Junkmail-Whitelist: YES (by domain whitelist at mr16.lnh.mail.rcn.net) Subject: Re: For My Edification X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 03 May 2011 12:37:03 -0000 Daniel Staal writes: > > I would like to add the excellent manpages of the system. > > Unlike many Linusi, those manpages are kept current by the > > FreeBSD operating system developers and their documentation > > assistants. So whenever you're not fully sure about something, > > use "man > files, kernel interfaces, library calls and maintenance > > procedures. *Everything* is well documented. And you don't > > even need Internet access to get that information, as the > > manpage doesn't direct you to some arbitrary Wiki on the > > web. :-) > > And, vice-versa, you don't need a FreeBSD box to read them, if > you have the web: They are all posted online at > for you to read. It is worth noting there are reference works - intended for those who already know something about a topic/program - not tutorials intended to teach concepts and terminology on how to do a specific task. At this point I usually recommend the most recent edition of _/The Unix System Administration Handbook/_. It is well-written; it covers flavors other than FreeBSD; and it goes into enough of the conceptual infrastructure to be very useful in diagnosing some kinds of breakage. Robert Huff