1 files changed, 95 insertions, 21 deletions
diff --git a/login-utils/mesg.1 b/login-utils/mesg.1
index 81932dfd9..4a9f3c9b1 100644
--- a/login-utils/mesg.1
+++ b/login-utils/mesg.1
@@ -1,24 +1,98 @@
-.\" Original author: Miquel van Smoorenburg, miquels@drinkel.nl.mugnet.org
-.\" Updated by faith@cs.unc.edu, Fri Oct 29 23:22:16 1993
-.TH MESG 1 "29 October 1993" "Linux 0.99" "Linux Programmer's Manual"
+.\" Copyright (c) 1987, 1990, 1993
+.\"	The Regents of the University of California.  All rights reserved.
+.\"
+.\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
+.\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
+.\" are met:
+.\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
+.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
+.\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
+.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
+.\"    documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
+.\" 3. All advertising materials mentioning features or use of this software
+.\"    must display the following acknowledgement:
+.\"	This product includes software developed by the University of
+.\"	California, Berkeley and its contributors.
+.\" 4. Neither the name of the University nor the names of its contributors
+.\"    may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software
+.\"    without specific prior written permission.
+.\"
+.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE REGENTS AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND
+.\" ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
+.\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
+.\" ARE DISCLAIMED.  IN NO EVENT SHALL THE REGENTS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE
+.\" FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
+.\" DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS
+.\" OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)
+.\" HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
+.\" LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY
+.\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
+.\" SUCH DAMAGE.
+.\"
+.\"	@(#)mesg.1	8.1 (Berkeley) 6/6/93
+.\"
+.\" Fri Mar 10 20:31:02 1995, modified for standard man macros,
+.\" faith@cs.unc.edu
+.\"
+.\"
+.\" "
+.TH MESG 1 "10 March 1995" "Linux 1.2" "Linux Programmer's Manual"
 .SH NAME
-mesg \- control write access to your terminal
+mesg \- display (do not display) messages from other users
 .SH SYNOPSIS
-.B mesg
-.RB [y|n]
-.br
+.B mesg [ n ] [ y ]
 .SH DESCRIPTION
-.B Mesg
-controls the access to your terminal by others. It's typically used
-to allow/disallow others users to \fBwrite(1)\fP to your terminal.
-.SH FLAGS
-.IP y
-Allow write access to your terminal.
-.IP n
-Disallow write access to your terminal.
-.IP [none]
-Prints out the current access state of your terminal.
-.SH SEE ALSO
-.BR write (1), wall (1)
-.SH AUTHOR
-Miquel van Smoorenburg, miquels@drinkel.nl.mugnet.org
+The
+.B mesg
+utility is invoked by a users to control write access others have to the
+terminal device associated with the standard error output.  If write access
+is allowed, then programs such as
+.BR talk (1)
+and
+.BR write (1)
+may display messages on the terminal.
+.PP
+Traditionally, write access is allowed by default.  However, as users
+become more conscious of various security risks, there is a trend to remove
+write access by default, at least for the primary login shell.  To make
+sure your ttys are set the way you want them to be set,
+.B mesg
+should be executed in your login scripts.
+.PP
+Options available:
+.TP
+.B n
+Disallows messages.
+.TP
+.B y
+Permits messages to be displayed.
+.PP
+If no arguments are given,
+.B mesg
+displays the present message status to the standard error output.
+.PP
+The
+.B mesg
+utility exits with one of the following values:
+.TP
+.I "\ 0"
+Messages are allowed.
+.TP
+.I "\ 1"
+Messages are not allowed.
+.TP
+.I "\>1"
+An error has occurred.
+.SH FILES
+.I /dev/[pt]ty[pq]?
+.SH "SEE ALSO"
+.BR biff (1),
+.BR talk (1),
+.BR write (1),
+.BR wall (1),
+.BR login (1),
+.BR xterm (1)
+.SH HISTORY
+A
+.B mesg
+command appeared in Version 6 AT&T UNIX.