4.13. For More Information
Prev | Chapter 4. UNIX Basics | Next

## 4.13. For More Information

### 4.13.1. Manual Pages

The most comprehensive documentation on FreeBSD is in the form of manual pages. Nearly every program on the system comes with a short reference manual explaining the basic operation and available arguments. These manuals can be viewed using `man`:

`%` `man `command``

where `command` is the name of the command to learn about. For example, to learn more about ls(1), type:

`%` `man ls`

The online manual is divided into numbered sections:

1. User commands.

2. System calls and error numbers.

3. Functions in the C libraries.

4. Device drivers.

5. File formats.

6. Games and other diversions.

7. Miscellaneous information.

8. System maintenance and operation commands.

9. Kernel developers.

In some cases, the same topic may appear in more than one section of the online manual. For example, there is a chmod(1) user command and a `chmod()` system call. To tell man(1) which section to display, specify the section number:

`%` `man 1 chmod`

This will display the manual page for the user command chmod(1). References to a particular section of the online manual are traditionally placed in parenthesis in written documentation, so chmod(1) refers to the user command and chmod(2) refers to the system call.

If the command name is unknown, use `man -k` to search for keywords in the command descriptions:

`%` `man -k `mail``

This command displays a list of commands that have the keyword “mail” in their descriptions. This is equivalent to using apropos(1).

To determine what the commands in `/usr/bin` do, type:

`%` `cd /usr/bin` `%` `man -f *`

or

`%` `cd /usr/bin` `%` `whatis *`

### 4.13.2. GNU Info Files

FreeBSD includes many applications and utilities produced by the Free Software Foundation (FSF). In addition to manual pages, these programs may include hypertext documents called `info` files. These can be viewed using info(1) or, if `editors/emacs` is installed, the info mode of emacs.

To use info(1), type:

`%` `info`

For a brief introduction, type `h`. For a quick command reference, type `?`.

Prev | Up | Next
4.12. Binary Formats | Home | Chapter 5. Installing Applications: Packages and Ports

All FreeBSD documents are available for download at http://ftp.FreeBSD.org/pub/FreeBSD/doc/

Questions that are not answered by the documentation may be sent to <freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.org>.
Send questions about this document to <freebsd-doc@FreeBSD.org>.