David Gwynne(da...@gwynne.id.au) on 2021.10.29 07:02:14 +1000: > On Thu, Oct 28, 2021 at 03:43:11PM +0100, Jason McIntyre wrote: > > On Thu, Oct 28, 2021 at 04:53:39PM +1000, David Gwynne wrote: > > > > > > > > > > On 28 Oct 2021, at 15:35, Jason McIntyre <j...@kerhand.co.uk> wrote: > > > > > > > > On Thu, Oct 28, 2021 at 01:27:17PM +1000, David Gwynne wrote: > > > >> > > > >>> that strategy does rely on individual driver docs saying upfront that > > > >>> they can be created though, even if using create is not common. i > > > >>> wonder if > > > >>> ifconfig already knows what it can create, and could maybe be more > > > >>> helpful if "create" without an ifname gave a hint. > > > >> > > > >> dlg@rpi3b trees$ ifconfig -C > > > >> aggr bpe bridge carp egre enc eoip etherip gif gre lo mgre mpe mpip > > > >> mpw nvgre pair pflog pflow pfsync ppp pppoe svlan switch tap tpmr > > > >> trunk tun veb vether vlan vport vxlan wg > > > >> > > > >> the "interface can be created paragraph" is in most of the manpages for > > > >> these drivers, except for pair, pfsync, pppoe, and vether (and > > > >> veb/vport). some of them could be improved, eg, bpe and switch. > > > >> > > > > > > > > oops, missed that flag! > > > > > > maybe the doco for "create" in ifconfig.8 should refer back to it too. > > > > > > > good idea - this fits in nicely with stuart's proposal to not list every > > device. > > > > > > > > > i had thought maybe if there was such an option, we wouldn;t need the > > > > "if can be created" blurb in every page. but i suppose we do need to say > > > > it somewhere. > > > > > > the driver manpages are in a weird place because they're supposed to be > > > for programmers, and the ifconfig manpage is for "operators". however, > > > the driver pages have the "theory of operation" for their interfaces. so > > > you have the high level theory in the driver manpage, the way 99% of use > > > actually interact with interfaces in ifconfig.8, and then you go back to > > > the driver doco for the low level programming detail. it's not the best > > > sandwich. > > > > > > > yep. > > > > > > another issue is that the text is inconsistent across pages. > > > > > > yeah, but that can be fixed easily. > > > > > > > hopefully! > > > > anyway, here' my proposal following your and sthen's advice. > > ok? > > > > jmc > > > > Index: ifconfig.8 > > =================================================================== > > RCS file: /cvs/src/sbin/ifconfig/ifconfig.8,v > > retrieving revision 1.377 > > diff -u -p -r1.377 ifconfig.8 > > --- ifconfig.8 27 Oct 2021 06:36:51 -0000 1.377 > > +++ ifconfig.8 28 Oct 2021 14:41:06 -0000 > > @@ -177,42 +177,9 @@ network. > > The default broadcast address is the address with a host part of all 1's. > > .It Cm create > > Create the specified network pseudo-device. > > -At least the following devices can be created on demand: > > -.Pp > > -.Xr aggr 4 , > > -.Xr bpe 4 , > > -.Xr bridge 4 , > > -.Xr carp 4 , > > -.Xr egre 4 , > > -.Xr enc 4 , > > -.Xr eoip 4 , > > -.Xr etherip 4 , > > -.Xr gif 4 , > > -.Xr gre 4 , > > -.Xr lo 4 , > > -.Xr mgre 4 , > > -.Xr mpe 4 , > > -.Xr mpip 4 , > > -.Xr mpw 4 , > > -.Xr nvgre 4 , > > -.Xr pair 4 , > > -.Xr pflog 4 , > > -.Xr pflow 4 , > > -.Xr pfsync 4 , > > -.Xr ppp 4 , > > -.Xr pppoe 4 , > > -.Xr svlan 4 , > > -.Xr switch 4 , > > -.Xr tap 4 , > > -.Xr tpmr 4 , > > -.Xr trunk 4 , > > -.Xr tun 4 , > > -.Xr veb 4 , > > -.Xr vether 4 , > > -.Xr vlan 4 , > > -.Xr vport 4 , > > -.Xr vxlan 4 , > > -.Xr wg 4 > > +A list of devices which can be dynamically created may be shown with the > > +.Fl C > > +option. > > .It Cm debug > > Enable driver-dependent debugging code; usually, this turns on > > extra console error logging. > > if solene@ doesnt think it hurts then i'm ok with it.
We tend to forget that there are other output formats for manpages as well. right now, i can got to https://man.openbsd.org/ifconfig and jump from there to all of these manpages. With them removed, i can no longer do that. Not sure if thats a valid consideration though.
