git: 47bd3d45ee1e - stable/15 - system(3): Clarify return values
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Date: Wed, 04 Mar 2026 14:45:09 UTC
The branch stable/15 has been updated by des:
URL: https://cgit.FreeBSD.org/src/commit/?id=47bd3d45ee1ec463bf58755040b6ada0201ac25a
commit 47bd3d45ee1ec463bf58755040b6ada0201ac25a
Author: Dag-Erling Smørgrav <des@FreeBSD.org>
AuthorDate: 2026-02-25 21:12:36 +0000
Commit: Dag-Erling Smørgrav <des@FreeBSD.org>
CommitDate: 2026-03-04 14:45:00 +0000
system(3): Clarify return values
Our manual page currently states that system() will return 127 if it
fails to execute the shell. The actual return value is, to quote POSIX,
“as if the command language interpreter had terminated using exit(127)
or _exit(127)”.
MFC after: 1 week
Sponsored by: Klara, Inc.
Reviewed by: bnovkov, kevans
Differential Revision: https://reviews.freebsd.org/D55483
(cherry picked from commit 7305604b29d3db29c9bb5de6e7a25829fb541d1e)
---
lib/libc/stdlib/system.3 | 8 +++++---
1 file changed, 5 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)
diff --git a/lib/libc/stdlib/system.3 b/lib/libc/stdlib/system.3
index 119432342f70..f09577099a5c 100644
--- a/lib/libc/stdlib/system.3
+++ b/lib/libc/stdlib/system.3
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
.\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
.\" SUCH DAMAGE.
.\"
-.Dd January 11, 2024
+.Dd February 24, 2026
.Dt SYSTEM 3
.Os
.Sh NAME
@@ -77,8 +77,10 @@ or \-1 if an error occurred when invoking
.Xr fork 2
or
.Xr waitpid 2 .
-A return value of 127 means the execution of the shell
-failed.
+If the child process fails to execute the shell, it will terminate
+with an exit code of 127 and
+.Nm
+will return the corresponding exit status.
.Sh SEE ALSO
.Xr sh 1 ,
.Xr execve 2 ,