[Bug 737452] Re: man 5 proc has obsolete info

[Michael Kerrisk]

I've applied the following patch upstream:

diff --git a/man5/proc.5 b/man5/proc.5
index efb402d..3acf867 100644
--- a/man5/proc.5
+++ b/man5/proc.5
@@ -1198,13 +1198,9 @@ instead.
 .TP
 \fIwchan\fP %lu
 (35) This is the "channel" in which the process is waiting.
-It is the
-address of a system call, and can be looked up in a namelist if you
-need a textual name.
-(If you have an up-to-date
-.IR /etc/psdatabase ,
-then
-try \fIps \-l\fP to see the WCHAN field in action.)
+It is the address of a location in the kernel where the process is sleeping.
+The corresponding symbolic name can be found in
+.IR /proc/[pid]/wchan .
 .TP
 \fInswap\fP %lu
 (36)
@@ -1479,6 +1475,10 @@ directory are not available if the main thread has already terminated
 (typically by calling
 .BR pthread_exit (3)).
 .TP
+.IR /proc/[pid]/wchan " (since Linux 2.6.0)"
+The symbolic name corresponding to the location
+in the kernel where the process is sleeping.
+.TP
 .I /proc/apm
 Advanced power management version and battery information when
 .B CONFIG_APM

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/737452

Title:
  man 5 proc has obsolete info

Status in “manpages” package in Ubuntu:
  Confirmed

Bug description:
  Binary package hint: manpages

  Doc for /proc/pid/stat wchan refers to /etc/psdatabase, which seems to
  be obsolete.

  More modern information ( http://weichong78.blogspot.com/2006/10
  /wchan-waiting-channel.html ) says that the symbol name is readable
  from /proc/pid/wchan , which is indeed true (I checked it).    So
  /etc/psdatabase does not exist on my Ubuntu system nor is it
  necessary.    It looks like the information that used to be in
  /etc/psdatabase is now in /proc/kallsyms.

  ProblemType: Bug
  DistroRelease: Ubuntu 10.04
  Package: manpages 3.23-1
  ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.32-29.58-generic 2.6.32.28+drm33.13
  Uname: Linux 2.6.32-29-generic x86_64
  Architecture: amd64
  Date: Fri Mar 18 10:32:43 2011
  Dependencies:
   
  InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 10.04.1 LTS "Lucid Lynx" - Release amd64 (20100816.1)
  PackageArchitecture: all
  ProcEnviron:
   PATH=(custom, user)
   LANG=en_GB.UTF-8
   SHELL=/bin/bash
  SourcePackage: manpages

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