The following reply was made to PR bin/33923; it has been noted by GNATS.

From: Izumi Tsutsui <tsutsui@ceres.dti.ne.jp>
To: hauke@Espresso.Rhein-Neckar.DE
Cc: christos@zoulas.com, gnats-bugs@NetBSD.org,
	gnats-admin@NetBSD.org, netbsd-bugs@NetBSD.org,
	tsutsui@ceres.dti.ne.jp
Subject: Re: bin/33923: slattach(8) can't attach sl(4) interface
Date: Sun, 9 Jul 2006 01:32:25 +0900

 > Maybe we should move descriptions about link[0-2] for sl(4)
 > from slattach(8) man page and remove MLINKS of slip.8 to slattach.8 ?
 
 Here is a new diff which includes:
 - move description about link[0-2] flags from slattach(8) to sl(4)
 - move description about SLIP limitations to BUGS section
 - remove MLINKS of slip.8 to slattach.8
 - create MLINKS of slip.4 to sl.4
 ---
 Izumi Tsutsui
 
 
 Index: distrib/sets/lists/man/mi
 ===================================================================
 RCS file: /cvsroot/src/distrib/sets/lists/man/mi,v
 retrieving revision 1.905
 diff -u -r1.905 mi
 --- distrib/sets/lists/man/mi	27 Jun 2006 21:59:51 -0000	1.905
 +++ distrib/sets/lists/man/mi	8 Jul 2006 16:29:14 -0000
 @@ -1239,6 +1239,7 @@
  ./usr/share/man/cat4/sk.0			man-sys-catman		.cat
  ./usr/share/man/cat4/skc.0			man-sys-catman		.cat
  ./usr/share/man/cat4/sl.0			man-sys-catman		.cat
 +./usr/share/man/cat4/slip.0			man-sys-catman		.cat
  ./usr/share/man/cat4/slhci.0			man-sys-catman		.cat
  ./usr/share/man/cat4/slide.0			man-sys-catman		.cat
  ./usr/share/man/cat4/sm.0			man-sys-catman		.cat
 @@ -2244,7 +2245,7 @@
  ./usr/share/man/cat8/showq.0			man-postfix-catman	postfix,.cat
  ./usr/share/man/cat8/shutdown.0			man-sysutil-catman	.cat
  ./usr/share/man/cat8/slattach.0			man-slip-catman		.cat
 -./usr/share/man/cat8/slip.0			man-slip-catman		.cat
 +./usr/share/man/cat8/slip.0			man-obsolete		obsolete
  ./usr/share/man/cat8/sliplogin.0		man-slip-catman		.cat
  ./usr/share/man/cat8/slstats.0			man-slip-catman		.cat
  ./usr/share/man/cat8/smrsh.0			man-obsolete		obsolete
 @@ -3594,6 +3595,7 @@
  ./usr/share/man/man4/sk.4			man-sys-man		.man
  ./usr/share/man/man4/skc.4			man-sys-man		.man
  ./usr/share/man/man4/sl.4			man-sys-man		.man
 +./usr/share/man/man4/slip.4			man-sys-man		.man
  ./usr/share/man/man4/slhci.4			man-sys-man		.man
  ./usr/share/man/man4/slide.4			man-sys-man		.man
  ./usr/share/man/man4/sm.4			man-sys-man		.man
 @@ -4599,7 +4601,7 @@
  ./usr/share/man/man8/showq.8			man-postfix-man		postfix,.man
  ./usr/share/man/man8/shutdown.8			man-sysutil-man		.man
  ./usr/share/man/man8/slattach.8			man-slip-man		.man
 -./usr/share/man/man8/slip.8			man-slip-man		.man
 +./usr/share/man/man8/slip.8			man-obsolete		obsolete
  ./usr/share/man/man8/sliplogin.8		man-slip-man		.man
  ./usr/share/man/man8/slstats.8			man-slip-man		.man
  ./usr/share/man/man8/smrsh.8			man-obsolete		obsolete
 Index: sbin/slattach/Makefile
 ===================================================================
 RCS file: /cvsroot/src/sbin/slattach/Makefile,v
 retrieving revision 1.9
 diff -u -r1.9 Makefile
 --- sbin/slattach/Makefile	27 Jun 2005 01:00:06 -0000	1.9
 +++ sbin/slattach/Makefile	8 Jul 2006 16:29:14 -0000
 @@ -3,6 +3,5 @@
  
  PROG=	slattach
  MAN=	slattach.8
 -MLINKS=	slattach.8 slip.8
  
  .include <bsd.prog.mk>
 Index: sbin/slattach/slattach.8
 ===================================================================
 RCS file: /cvsroot/src/sbin/slattach/slattach.8,v
 retrieving revision 1.27
 diff -u -r1.27 slattach.8
 --- sbin/slattach/slattach.8	7 Aug 2003 10:04:40 -0000	1.27
 +++ sbin/slattach/slattach.8	8 Jul 2006 16:29:14 -0000
 @@ -29,12 +29,11 @@
  .\"
  .\"     @(#)slattach.8	8.2 (Berkeley) 4/1/94
  .\"
 -.Dd September 3, 1999
 +.Dd July 8, 2006
  .Dt SLATTACH 8
  .Os
  .Sh NAME
 -.Nm slattach ,
 -.Nm slip
 +.Nm slattach
  .Nd attach serial lines as network interfaces
  .Sh SYNOPSIS
  .Nm
 @@ -44,8 +43,26 @@
  .Ar ttyname
  .Sh DESCRIPTION
  .Nm
 -is used to assign a tty line to a network interface,
 -and to define the network source and destination addresses.
 +is used to assign a tty line to a network interface which uses asynchronous
 +serial lines.
 +.Pp
 +Currently the
 +.Nm
 +command is used to attach
 +.Xr sl 4
 +or
 +.Xr strip 4
 +interfaces.
 +These interfaces have to be created using the
 +.Xr ifconfig 8
 +.Cm create
 +subcommand before the
 +.Nm
 +command.
 +The network source and destination addresses and other interface parameters
 +are configured via
 +.Xr ifconfig 8 .
 +.Pp
  The following operands are supported by
  .Nm :
  .Bl -tag -width Ar
 @@ -88,25 +105,6 @@
  .Ql /dev/ttyXX .
  .El
  .Pp
 -In addition, the following flags to
 -.Xr ifconfig 8
 -control various properties of a SLIP link:
 -.Bl -tag -width Ar
 -.It Ar link0
 -Turn on Van Jacobsen header compression.
 -.It Ar -link0
 -Turn off header compression.
 -.It Ar link1
 -Don't pass through ICMP packets.
 -.It Ar -link1
 -Do pass through ICMP packets.
 -.It Ar link2
 -If a packet with a compressed header is received, automatically enable
 -compression of outgoing packets.
 -.It Ar -link2
 -Don't auto-enable compression.
 -.El
 -.Pp
  Only the super-user may attach a network interface.
  .Pp
  To detach the interface, use
 @@ -123,9 +121,9 @@
  slattach \-s 4800 /dev/tty01
  .Ed
  .Sh DIAGNOSTICS
 -Messages indicating that the specified interface does not exist, the
 -requested address is unknown, or that the user is not privileged but
 -tried to alter an interface's configuration.
 +Messages indicating that the specified interface is not configured or created,
 +the requested address is unknown, or that the user is not privileged
 +but tried to alter an interface's configuration.
  .Sh SEE ALSO
  .Xr netstat 1 ,
  .Xr daemon 3 ,
 @@ -133,9 +131,27 @@
  .Xr sl 4 ,
  .Xr strip 4 ,
  .Xr ifconfig 8 ,
 -.Xr rc 8
 +.Xr rc 8 ,
 +.Xr sliplogin 8 ,
 +.Xr slstats 8
  .Sh HISTORY
  The
  .Nm
  command appeared in
  .Bx 4.3 .
 +.Sh BUGS
 +There is no way to specify the interface name (sl%d etc.) to be attached by the
 +.Nm
 +command.
 +There is no way to see which interface is assigned to the specified tty by the
 +.Nm
 +command, either.
 +.Pp
 +It would be better if the network interfaces were created by the
 +.Nm
 +command rather than by using the
 +.Xr ifconfig 8
 +.Cm create
 +subcommand before the
 +.Nm
 +command.
 Index: share/man/man4/Makefile
 ===================================================================
 RCS file: /cvsroot/src/share/man/man4/Makefile,v
 retrieving revision 1.391
 diff -u -r1.391 Makefile
 --- share/man/man4/Makefile	27 Jun 2006 21:43:26 -0000	1.391
 +++ share/man/man4/Makefile	8 Jul 2006 16:29:14 -0000
 @@ -139,6 +139,7 @@
  MLINKS+=scsi.4 scsibus.4
  MLINKS+=si.4 sw.4
  MLINKS+=sk.4 skc.4
 +MLINKS+=sl.4 slip.4
  MLINKS+=speaker.4 spkr.4
  MLINKS+=tty.4 dty.4
  MLINKS+=url.4 urlphy.4
 Index: share/man/man4/sl.4
 ===================================================================
 RCS file: /cvsroot/src/share/man/man4/sl.4,v
 retrieving revision 1.11
 diff -u -r1.11 sl.4
 --- share/man/man4/sl.4	17 Jun 2006 04:58:14 -0000	1.11
 +++ share/man/man4/sl.4	8 Jul 2006 16:29:14 -0000
 @@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
  .\"
  .\"     From:	@(#)lo.4	8.1 (Berkeley) 6/5/93
  .\"
 -.Dd December 5, 2004
 +.Dd July 8, 2006
  .Dt SL 4
  .Os
  .Sh NAME
 @@ -45,6 +45,23 @@
  network interfaces using the
  .Tn SLIP
  protocol.
 +.Pp
 +To use the
 +.Nm
 +interface, the administrator must first create the interface and assign
 +a tty line to it.
 +The
 +.Nm
 +interface is created using the
 +.Xr ifconfig 8
 +.Cm create
 +subcommand, and
 +.Xr slattach 8
 +is used to assign a tty line to the interface.
 +Once the interface is attached, network source and destination addresses and
 +other parameters are configured via
 +.Xr ifconfig 8 .
 +.Pp
  The
  .Nm
  interface can use Van Jacobson
 @@ -52,23 +69,24 @@
  header compression and
  .Tn ICMP
  filtering.
 -.Pp
 -However,
 -.Tn SLIP
 -can only transmit
 -.Tn IPv4
 -packets between preconfigured hosts on an asynchronous serial link.
 -It has no provision for address negotiation,
 -carriage of additional protocols (e.g.
 -.Tn XNS ,
 -.Tn AppleTalk ,
 -.Tn DECNET ) ,
 -and is not designed for synchronous serial links.
 -This is why
 -.Tn SLIP
 -has been superseded by the Point-to-Point Protocol
 -.Pq Tn PPP ,
 -which does all of those things, and much more.
 +The following flags to
 +.Xr ifconfig 8
 +control these properties of a SLIP link:
 +.Bl -tag -width Ar
 +.It Ar link0
 +Turn on Van Jacobsen header compression.
 +.It Ar -link0
 +Turn off header compression.
 +.It Ar link1
 +Don't pass through ICMP packets.
 +.It Ar -link1
 +Do pass through ICMP packets.
 +.It Ar link2
 +If a packet with a compressed header is received, automatically enable
 +compression of outgoing packets.
 +.It Ar -link2
 +Don't auto-enable compression.
 +.El 
  .Sh DIAGNOSTICS
  .Bl -diag
  .It sl%d: af%d not supported .
 @@ -80,6 +98,8 @@
  .Xr inet 4 ,
  .Xr intro 4 ,
  .Xr ppp 4 ,
 +.Xr strip 4 ,
 +.Xr ifconfig 8 ,
  .Xr slattach 8 ,
  .Xr sliplogin 8 ,
  .Xr slstats 8
 @@ -94,3 +114,19 @@
  .Nm
  device appeared in
  .Nx 1.0 .
 +.Sh BUGS
 +.Tn SLIP
 +can only transmit
 +.Tn IPv4
 +packets between preconfigured hosts on an asynchronous serial link.
 +It has no provision for address negotiation,
 +carriage of additional protocols (e.g.
 +.Tn XNS ,
 +.Tn AppleTalk ,
 +.Tn DECNET ) ,
 +and is not designed for synchronous serial links.
 +This is why
 +.Tn SLIP
 +has been superseded by the Point-to-Point Protocol
 +.Pq Tn PPP ,
 +which does all of those things, and much more.