update sticky: note that setting the sticky bit on files is still possible,

but has no effect. Retain description of sticky files, but note that it is
historical.

Add small description of how current system works. Improve description of
sticky directories. Remove references to ld(1).

Remove no longer relevant BUG.

much assistance and ok otto@ and tedu@

1 files changed, 17 insertions, 28 deletions

diff --git a/share/man/man8/sticky.8 b/share/man/man8/sticky.8
index 0344c259061..5597b5de4c7 100644
--- a/share/man/man8/sticky.8
+++ b/share/man/man8/sticky.8
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-.\"	$OpenBSD: sticky.8,v 1.7 2003/06/06 19:28:06 jmc Exp $
+.\"	$OpenBSD: sticky.8,v 1.8 2003/12/20 09:09:46 jmc Exp $
 .\"	$NetBSD: sticky.8,v 1.3 1994/11/30 19:36:27 jtc Exp $
 .\"
 .\" Copyright (c) 1980, 1991, 1993
@@ -40,38 +40,30 @@
 A special file mode, called the
 .Em sticky bit
 (mode S_ISVTX),
-is used to indicate special treatment
-for shareable executable files and directories.
+is used to indicate special treatment for files and directories.
 See
 .Xr chmod 2
 or
 the file
 .Pa /usr/include/sys/stat.h
 for an explanation of file modes.
-.Sh STICKY TEXT EXECUTABLE FILES
-An executable shareable file whose sticky bit is set
-will not be immediately discarded from swap space after execution.
-The kernel will hoard the text segment of the file for future
-reuse and avoid having to reload the program.
-Shareable text segments are normally placed
-in a least-frequently used cache after use,
-and thus the `sticky bit' has little effect on commonly used text images.
+.Sh STICKY FILES
+Historically, an executable shareable file which had the sticky bit set
+was not immediately discarded from swap space after execution.
+The kernel hoarded the text segment of the file for future reuse,
+thus avoiding having to reload the program.
+This is no longer true on modern systems;
+the current virtual memory system keeps track of recently used executables,
+making the sticky bit for files redundant.
+The sticky bit can still be set on files, but without any effect.
 .Pp
-Sharable executable files are created with the
-.Fl n
-and
-.Fl z
-options of
-the loader
-.Xr ld 1 .
-.Pp
-Only the superuser can set the sticky bit
-on a sharable executable file.
+Only the superuser can set the sticky bit on a file,
+though the owner of the file may clear the sticky bit.
 .Sh STICKY DIRECTORIES
-A directory whose `sticky bit' is set
-becomes an append-only directory, or, more accurately,
-a directory in which the deletion of files is restricted.
-A file in a sticky directory may only be removed or renamed
+A directory with the
+.Sq sticky bit
+set places restrictions on file deletion:
+a file in a sticky directory may only be removed or renamed
 by a user if the user has write permission for the directory and
 the user is the owner of the file, the owner of the directory,
 or the superuser.
@@ -90,9 +82,6 @@ A
 .Nm
 command appeared in Version 32V AT&T UNIX.
 .Sh BUGS
-Since the text areas of sticky text executables are stashed in the swap area,
-abuse of the feature can cause a system to run out of swap.
-.Pp
 Neither
 .Xr open 2
 nor