Editing Man page (section)

{{short description|Unix software documentation}}
{{distinguish|Main Page}}
{{lowercase title}}
[[File:Sed stream editor (cropped).jpg|thumb|The man page for the {{tt|sed}} utility, as seen in various [[Linux distribution]]s.]]

A '''man page''' (short for '''manual page''') is a form of [[software documentation]] found on [[Unix]] and [[Unix-like]] [[operating systems]]. Topics covered include programs, [[system libraries]], [[system call]]s, and sometimes local system details. The local host administrators can create and install manual pages associated with the specific host.  A manual end user may invoke a documentation page by issuing the <code>man</code> [[Command (computing)|command]] followed by the name of the item for which they want the documentation. These manual pages are typically requested by end users, programmers and administrators doing real time work but can also be formatted for printing.

By default, <code>man</code> typically uses a formatting program such as <code>[[nroff]]</code> with a macro package or [[mandoc]], and also a [[terminal pager]] program such as <code>[[more (command)|more]]</code> or <code>[[less (Unix)|less]]</code> to display its output on the user's screen.

Man pages are often referred to as an ''[[online]]'' form of software documentation,<ref name="online-man">{{Cite web |title=man(1) |url=https://man.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=man&sektion=1 |access-date=2023-07-15 |website=FreeBSD General Commands Manual |archive-date=2023-01-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230130060434/https://man.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=man&sektion=1 |url-status=live }}</ref> even though the <code>man</code> command does not require internet access.  The environment variable MANPATH often specifies a list of directory paths to search for the various documentation pages.  Manual pages date back to the times when printed documentation was the norm.