disk wait mystery

[Warren Block]

On Wed, 30 Jan 2013, Andrew wrote:

> On 30 Jan 2013, at 17:05, Brett Wynkoop wrote:
>
>> I appreciate the education on this point!  I wonder if this should be
>> considered a man page bug?
>
> The man page does say "(or other short term, uninterruptible) wait". I 
> don't know what sort of wait the kernel threads may or may not be in 
> but if they are in one, and its short-term then the man page is 
> correct. Maybe an FAQ entry though.

If the man page is misleading or incomplete, it should be fixed.  Based 
on the source, the mention of disk at the start is misleading.  Maybe:

D       Marks a process in short term, uninterruptible wait.

Or

D       Marks a process in short term, uninterruptible wait (typically,
         disk wait).

Which explains the "D" but may reintroduce the confusion.