Wiki Pick: Install Man Pages In PCLinuxOS

Relevant to ALL editions of PCLinuxOS.

This tip comes from our PCLinuxOS founder and overlord, Texstar.

Are you unfamiliar with man pages? They are accessed from the command line, by typing man <name-of-program>. They differ from the “help” information accessed by typing the name of the program, followed by either -- help, -h, or -?. Linux man pages are much more comprehensive, and cover the options of a program in much greater depth and detail. You wouldn't be remiss to think of Linux man pages as a comprehensive help file, available from the command line.

Under PCLinuxOS, Linux man pages are no longer packaged for installation from the package manager. The packagers have many more important things to focus on.

Linux man pages are accessible online from a variety of sources. One of my favorites is from die.net. However, Texstar's tip allows users who want to access man pages on their computer locally the ability to do so, without having to go out onto the internet.

Installation

So, below are the steps that Texstar outlined.

1. Install git from the package manager.


2. Open a terminal session.


3. Type git clone https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/docs/man-pages/man-pages at a command line prompt.


4. Type cd man-pages at the command line prompt, and press the Enter key.


5. Switch to the root user.


6. Type make install at the command line prompt.

Now, sit back and wait for the last step to finish.

Your Linux man pages will now be available on your computer, without having to go out onto the internet to read. Not only can this be a time saver, but it can also be a vital “lifeline” should you be unable to get out onto the internet to access the online Linux man pages.

You can view the PCLinuxOS Knowledgebase Wiki entry here.