diff --git a/share/man/man7/sticky.7 b/share/man/man7/sticky.7 index 443cb1fa10e9..4535311b655a 100644 --- a/share/man/man7/sticky.7 +++ b/share/man/man7/sticky.7 @@ -1,4 +1,4 @@ -.\" $NetBSD: sticky.7,v 1.3 2004/01/30 16:06:20 christos Exp $ +.\" $NetBSD: sticky.7,v 1.4 2004/01/30 16:14:37 wiz Exp $ .\" .\" Copyright (c) 1980, 1991, 1993 .\" The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved. @@ -50,8 +50,8 @@ The use of mode .Dv S_ISVTX is reserved and can be set only by the super-user. .Nx -does not currently treat plain files that have the sticky bit set specially, -but this behavior might change in the future. +does not currently treat plain files that have the sticky bit set +specially, but this behavior might change in the future. .Sh STICKY DIRECTORIES A directory whose .Dq sticky bit @@ -72,27 +72,30 @@ See for details about modifying file modes. .Sh HISTORY The sticky bit first appeared in V7, and this manual page appeared -in section 8. It's initial use was to mark sharable executables +in section 8. +Its initial use was to mark sharable executables that were frequently used so that they would stay in swap after -the process exited. Sharable executables were compiled in a special -way so their text and read-only data could be shared amongst -processes. +the process exited. +Sharable executables were compiled in a special way so their text +and read-only data could be shared amongst processes. .Xr vi 1 and .Xr sh 1 were such executables. This is where the term .Dq sticky -comes from - the program would stick around stick around in swap, -and it would not have to be fetched again from the file system. Of -course as long as there was a copy in the swap area, the file was -marked busy so it could not be overwritten. On V7 this meant that -the file could not be removed either, because busy executables -could not be removed but this restriction was lifted on BSD releases. +comes from - the program would stick around in swap, and it would +not have to be fetched again from the file system. +Of course as long as there was a copy in the swap area, the file +was marked busy so it could not be overwritten. +On V7 this meant that the file could not be removed either, because +busy executables could not be removed, but this restriction was +lifted in BSD releases. .Pp -To replace such executables was a cumbersome process. One had first to -remove the sticky bit, then execute the binary so that the copy from swap -was flushed, overwrite the executable, and finally reset the sticky bit. +To replace such executables was a cumbersome process. +One had first to remove the sticky bit, then execute the binary so +that the copy from swap was flushed, overwrite the executable, and +finally reset the sticky bit. .Pp Later, on SunOS 4, the sticky bit got an additional meaning for files that had the bit set and were not executable: read and write