2007-06-08 12:50:33

by Michael Kerrisk

[permalink] [raw]
Subject: man-pages-2.54 is released

Gidday,

I just released man-pages-2.54

This release is now available for download at:

http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/docs/manpages
or ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/docs/manpages
or mirrors: ftp://ftp.XX.kernel.org/pub/linux/docs/manpages

and soon at:

ftp://ftp.win.tue.nl/pub/linux-local/manpages

This release includes a new page, man-pages.7, that describes the
conventions that should be used when writing pages for man-pages. A few
other changes that may be of interest to readers of this list are are noted
below.

Cheers,

Michael


==================== Changes in man-pages-2.54 ====================

New pages
---------

man-pages.7
mtk
A description of the conventions that should be followed
when writing pages for the man-pages package.

Changes to individual pages
---------------------------

fcntl.2
mtk
Remove misleading text about setting O_ASYNC when calling
open(); one must use fcntl() F_SETFL for this task.

fdatasync.2
mtk
Converted outdated BUGS note about fdatasync() being
equivalent to fsync() on Linux 2.2 into a NOTES note
about this historical behaviour.

mprotect.2
mtk, after an observation by Emmanuel Mogenet
A much improved example program.
mtk
Significant rewrites and additions to description.

--
Michael Kerrisk
maintainer of Linux man pages Sections 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7

Want to help with man page maintenance? Grab the latest tarball at
http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/docs/manpages/
read the HOWTOHELP file and grep the source files for 'FIXME'.


2007-06-08 14:03:06

by Gerhard Mack

[permalink] [raw]
Subject: Re: man-pages-2.54 is released

On Fri, 8 Jun 2007, Michael Kerrisk wrote:

> I just released man-pages-2.54
>

This may sound like a dumb question but since you just released
man-pages-2.52 and man-pages-2.53 recently as one batch and now this one.

What is the difference between the versions and how do I know wich to
install?

Gerhard



--
Gerhard Mack

[email protected]

<>< As a computer I find your faith in technology amusing.

2007-06-08 16:03:31

by Michael Kerrisk

[permalink] [raw]
Subject: Re: man-pages-2.54 is released

Gerhard Mack wrote:
> On Fri, 8 Jun 2007, Michael Kerrisk wrote:
>
>> I just released man-pages-2.54
>>
>
> This may sound like a dumb question but since you just released
> man-pages-2.52 and man-pages-2.53 recently as one batch and now this one.

Let's just say that I've been very busy lately... (Getting some paid time
to work on man-pages helps a lot!) One reason that releases get split up
is that for major edits (especially for formatting as opposed to content),
I am trying to separate the edits into separate releases to ease the life
of some downstream maintainers and translators. From the MAINTAINING file
in the tarball:

One day, it won't be me any more, so to make life easier for the
next maintainer: some tips on how to maintain the Linux manual
pages

...

Release Philosophy
==================

If you make sweeping *formatting* changes on a large number of
pages, separate them out into their own release that contains
minimal *content* changes. This makes it easier for the people
that want to verify content changes independently of the change
log. Yes, some people actually diff each release to see what
changed; for example, downstream maintainers, and translators of
the man pages (such as the dedicated Alain Portal, in recent
times) sometimes like to do this.

> What is the difference between the versions and how do I know wich to
> install?

The latest is, well, the latest. (Take a look at Changes and Changes.old
in each release.) Today, you want 2.54. In a few days, you're likely to
want 2.55 ;-).

Best regards,

Michael

--
Michael Kerrisk
maintainer of Linux man pages Sections 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7

Want to help with man page maintenance? Grab the latest tarball at
http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/docs/manpages/
read the HOWTOHELP file and grep the source files for 'FIXME'.

2007-06-08 18:45:49

by Jan Engelhardt

[permalink] [raw]
Subject: Re: man-pages-2.54 is released


On Jun 8 2007 18:03, Michael Kerrisk wrote:
> Release Philosophy
> ==================
>
> If you make sweeping *formatting* changes on a large number of
> pages, separate them out into their own release that contains
> minimal *content* changes. This makes it easier for the people
> that want to verify content changes independently of the change
> log. Yes, some people actually diff each release to see what
> changed; for example, downstream maintainers, and translators of
> the man pages (such as the dedicated Alain Portal, in recent
> times) sometimes like to do this.

I think that sounds more like a repository (svn/git) philosophy
than a release philosophy.


Jan
--