Man page

A page (short for manual page) is Article description::the name for software documentation found on Unix based systems. Man pages contain documentation about programs (executable files), libraries, system calls, and configuration files.

Man pages are generally written in a special markup language called troff, but also can be generated from other markup languages.

Installation
is part of the system set and should be installed by default on Gentoo systems.

, which provides many basic man pages, is also part of the system set. If localized man pages are desired, set the LINGUAS variable in, e.g. for German:

Most packages install additional man pages. To negate man page installation, add the following feature to :

man
Man pages can be viewed using the command:


 * - Shows the ebuild man page of section 5.
 * - Shows the ebuild man page of section 1. When there is more than on man page with same name, the first found will be shown.

uses the default pager (typically ) to display man pages. The default pager can be modified using the command.

Navigation of a man page can be performed using the and  arrow keys (or the  and  keys if Vim navigation is preferred). Scroll page wise with the and  keys. Search using the key followed by the search term.

A more thorough explanation can be found in the Navigate sub article.

Konqueror
KDE Konqueror can render man pages. Enter in the address bar   followed by the man page name, e.g.:  . To view a specific section, add the section in parentheses, e.g.:  .

apropos
(part of ) can search the whatis database for strings, e.g.: