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Rob Landley | 1 Dec 2008 02:27

Re: Query about uname.

On Saturday 29 November 2008 07:08:43 Michael Kerrisk wrote:
> [CC+= linux-msan <at> , which is where man-pages discussions really belong...]

I wonder what linux-doc is for?

> > Posix doesn't specify init or mount either.  "Posix doesn't specify"
> > doesn't forbid something else from specifying it.
>
> I think you somewhat misunderstand "unspecified".  For a wise
> application writer, this means: avoid relying on specific behaviors
> here if you want to write portable and future-proof programs.

Perhaps I'm strange in trying to treat Linux as a platform I want to write 
software for.  I'm all for future-proofing, but after a binary's compiled 
there's not a whole lot you can do about it, and if they're happy to break 
binary compatibility all bets are off anyway.

> >> As noted in the first para of the description,
> >> the fields of the structure are null-terminated, which, in the typical
> >> case, makes it quite possible to use them without knowing their
> >> (maximum) lengths.
> >
> > Use a field, yes.  Iterate though the fields/find the next field, no.
>
> (This strikes me as a somewhat unusual requirement in the context of
> uname())

Implementing "uname -a", or having uname's command line argument parsing that 
treats "snrvm" as a series of fields in order.
(Continue reading)

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Michael Kerrisk | 1 Dec 2008 04:41

Re: Query about uname.

On Sun, Nov 30, 2008 at 8:27 PM, Rob Landley <rob <at> landley.net> wrote:
> On Saturday 29 November 2008 07:08:43 Michael Kerrisk wrote:
>> [CC+= linux-msan <at> , which is where man-pages discussions really belong...]
>
> I wonder what linux-doc is for?

Something else.

>> > Posix doesn't specify init or mount either.  "Posix doesn't specify"
>> > doesn't forbid something else from specifying it.
>>
>> I think you somewhat misunderstand "unspecified".  For a wise
>> application writer, this means: avoid relying on specific behaviors
>> here if you want to write portable and future-proof programs.
>
> Perhaps I'm strange in trying to treat Linux as a platform I want to write
> software for.  I'm all for future-proofing, but after a binary's compiled
> there's not a whole lot you can do about it,

Untrue.  There are often things you can do *before* the binary is
compiled, so as to avoid relying on unspecified details.

[...]

>> >> And indeed, a portable program should not care.
>> >
>> > When I start writing portable programs that I intend to support on
>> > Dragonfly BSD, I'll let you know.  "Posix portable" includes Windows NT
>> > and strange IBM mainframes.
>>
(Continue reading)

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Shaddy Baddah | 1 Dec 2008 07:35
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How do I build the Documentation/cdrom doco?

Hi,

I can't seem to build the Documentation/cdrom doco. I get this error (as 
well as a bunch of warnings like the first line):

..
LaTeX Warning: Reference `cdrom-ioctl' on page 15 undefined on input 
line 987.

[15]
! Undefined control sequence.
l.1012 ...nel~2.0.  Further thanks to Heiko Ei{\sz
                                                   }feldt,
?

The question mark is a prompt, and I have to ctrl-D to quit.

Is it possible to get this fixed?

Thanks in advance,
Shaddy

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Randy Dunlap | 1 Dec 2008 18:46
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Re: Query about uname.

On Sun, 30 Nov 2008 19:27:27 -0600 Rob Landley wrote:

> On Saturday 29 November 2008 07:08:43 Michael Kerrisk wrote:
> > [CC+= linux-msan <at> , which is where man-pages discussions really belong...]
> 
> I wonder what linux-doc is for?

It's for Linux documentation that's in the kernel tree.
Or for doc tools that the Linux kernel uses.

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Randy Dunlap | 1 Dec 2008 19:56
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Re: Document hadling of bad memory

On Wed, 26 Nov 2008 17:15:21 +0100 Pavel Machek wrote:

> Document how to deal with bad memory reported with memtest.
> 
> Signed-off-by: Pavel Machek <pavel <at> suse.cz>
> 
> diff --git a/Documentation/bad_memory.txt b/Documentation/bad_memory.txt
> new file mode 100644
> index 0000000..df84162
> --- /dev/null
> +++ b/Documentation/bad_memory.txt
>  <at>  <at>  -0,0 +1,45  <at>  <at> 
> +March 2008
> +Jan-Simon Moeller, dl9pf <at> gmx.de
> +
> +
> +How to deal with bad memory e.g. reported by memtest86+ ?
> +#########################################################
> +
> +There are three possibilities I know of:
> +
> +1) Reinsert/swap the memory modules
> +
> +2) Buy new modules (best!) or try to exchange the memory
> +   if you have spare-parts
> +
> +3) Use BadRAM or memmap
> +
> +This Howto is about number 3) .
(Continue reading)

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Rob Landley | 2 Dec 2008 00:09

Re: Query about uname.

On Monday 01 December 2008 11:46:33 Randy Dunlap wrote:
> On Sun, 30 Nov 2008 19:27:27 -0600 Rob Landley wrote:
> > On Saturday 29 November 2008 07:08:43 Michael Kerrisk wrote:
> > > [CC+= linux-msan <at> , which is where man-pages discussions really
> > > belong...]
> >
> > I wonder what linux-doc is for?
>
> It's for Linux documentation that's in the kernel tree.
> Or for doc tools that the Linux kernel uses.

How does one update the description in
http://vger.kernel.org/vger-lists.html#linux-doc
then?

Rob
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Randy Dunlap | 2 Dec 2008 05:03
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Re: Query about uname.

Rob Landley wrote:
> On Monday 01 December 2008 11:46:33 Randy Dunlap wrote:
>> On Sun, 30 Nov 2008 19:27:27 -0600 Rob Landley wrote:
>>> On Saturday 29 November 2008 07:08:43 Michael Kerrisk wrote:
>>>> [CC+= linux-msan <at> , which is where man-pages discussions really
>>>> belong...]
>>> I wonder what linux-doc is for?
>> It's for Linux documentation that's in the kernel tree.
>> Or for doc tools that the Linux kernel uses.
> 
> How does one update the description in
> http://vger.kernel.org/vger-lists.html#linux-doc
> then?
> 
> Rob

cc: postmaster <at> vger.kernel.org I believe.

Dave or Matti (?),
Can you update the vger description of the linux-doc
mailing list to something like:

"List for Linux documentation that is in the kernel tree or for
documentation tools that the kernel uses."

Thanks,
--

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Pavel Machek | 2 Dec 2008 13:02
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clock_gettime not mentioned in time.7

Hi!

man 7 time does not mention clock_gettime() (and concept of monotonic
time at all). I guess it should... at least clock_gettime() should be
mentioned in "SEE ALSO".
									Pavel
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Pavel Machek | 2 Dec 2008 13:06
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fsync.2 does not mention error handling


fsync() transfers ("flushes") all modified in-core data of (i.e.,
modified buffer cache pages for) the file referred to by the file
descriptor fd to the disk device (or other permanent storage device)
where that file resides.  The call blocks until the device reports
that the transfer has completed.  It also flushes metadata information
associated with the file (see stat(2)).

Calling fsync() does not necessarily ensure that the entry in the
directory containing the file has also reached disk.  For that an
explicit fsync() on a file descriptor for the directory is also
needed.

...
RETURN VALUE         top

On success, these system calls return zero.  On error, -1 is
returned, and errno is set appropriately.

--------------

I guess it should mention that any errors during fsync are only
mentioned to the first process calling it... which means that if you

write file
fsync file
fsync .

... and someone else does "fsync ." in the meantime, you may get
success when in fact directory entry of file is not written to the
(Continue reading)

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Michael Kerrisk | 4 Dec 2008 15:07

Re: Query about uname.

On Fri, Nov 28, 2008 at 4:00 PM, Michael Kerrisk
<mtk.manpages@...> wrote:
[...]
> It seems to me that all the info you needed was there in the page, but
> you didn't read the whole page.  The question is, whether the page
> could/should provide more clues to make sure that the reader is
> pointed to the fine details (which, for the reasons I described above,
> are often not needed).

I added the words "(see NOTES)" to the sentence on in DESCRIPTION
mentioning that the field lengths are unspecified.  This will give the
reader a clue whetre to get more details, if needed.

Cheers,

Michael

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Gmane