docs/106926: ntp docs incorrectly document maxpoll/minpoll calculation

Jeremy Chadwick koitsu at FreeBSD.org
Tue Dec 19 18:20:29 UTC 2006


>Number:         106926
>Category:       docs
>Synopsis:       ntp docs incorrectly document maxpoll/minpoll calculation
>Confidential:   no
>Severity:       non-critical
>Priority:       low
>Responsible:    freebsd-doc
>State:          open
>Quarter:        
>Keywords:       
>Date-Required:
>Class:          doc-bug
>Submitter-Id:   current-users
>Arrival-Date:   Tue Dec 19 18:20:27 GMT 2006
>Closed-Date:
>Last-Modified:
>Originator:     Jeremy Chadwick
>Release:        FreeBSD 6.2-PRERELEASE i386
>Organization:
>Environment:
System: FreeBSD icarus.home.lan 6.2-PRERELEASE FreeBSD 6.2-PRERELEASE #0: Wed Dec 13 14:55:49 PST 2006 root at icarus.home.lan:/usr/obj/usr/src/sys/ICARUS i386
>Description:
	ntp.conf(5) incorrectly documents the calculation used to
	convert the minpoll and maxpoll values into seconds.

	The manpage states "These options specify the minimum and
	maximum poll intervals for NTP messages, in seconds to
	the power of two", then cites examples such as the
	default value being 10 (thus 1024 seconds).

	10^2 = 100, but 2^10 = 1024.

	So the documentation should really say "These options
	specify the minimum and maximum poll intervals for NTP
	messages, as a power of 2 in seconds".  Other portions
	of the ntp.conf manpage use this wording, so let's
	keep it consistent (and correct :) ).
	
>How-To-Repeat:
	n/a
>Fix:
	Apply below patch.

--- ntp.conf.5.orig	Mon Jun  5 01:14:48 2006
+++ ntp.conf.5	Tue Dec 19 10:01:03 2006
@@ -303,7 +303,7 @@
 .It Cm minpoll Ar minpoll
 .It Cm maxpoll Ar maxpoll
 These options specify the minimum and maximum poll intervals
-for NTP messages, in seconds to the power of two.
+for NTP messages, as a power of 2 in seconds.
 The maximum poll
 interval defaults to 10 (1,024 s), but can be increased by the
 .Cm maxpoll
@@ -2040,7 +2040,7 @@
 .It Cm minpoll Ar int
 .It Cm maxpoll Ar int
 These options specify the minimum and maximum polling interval
-for reference clock messages, in seconds to the power of two.
+for reference clock messages, as a power of 2 in seconds.
 For
 most directly connected reference clocks, both
 .Cm minpoll
>Release-Note:
>Audit-Trail:
>Unformatted:



More information about the freebsd-doc mailing list