-.\" Copyright (c) 1985 The Regents of the University of California.
+.\" Copyright (c) 1985, 1990 The Regents of the University of California.
.\" All rights reserved.
.\"
-.\" %sccs.include.redist.man%
+.\" 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.
.\"
-.\" @(#)whois.1 6.5 (Berkeley) %G%
+.\" 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.
.\"
-.TH WHOIS 1 ""
-.UC 6
-.SH NAME
-whois \- Internet user name directory service
-.SH SYNOPSIS
-.nf
-.ft B
-whois [ \-h hostname ] name ...
-.ft R
-.fi
-.SH DESCRIPTION
-.I Whois
-is used to look up records in the Network Information Center (NIC)
+.\" @(#)whois.1 6.6 (Berkeley) 4/23/91
+.\"
+.Dt WHOIS 1
+.Dd April 23, 1991
+.Os BSD 4.3
+.Sh NAME
+.Nm whois
+.Nd Internet user name directory service
+.Sh SYNOPSIS
+.Nm whois
+.Op Fl h Ar hostname
+.Ar name ...
+.Sh DESCRIPTION
+.Nm Whois
+looks up records in the Network Information Center
+.Pq Tn NIC
database.
-.PP
+.Pp
The options are as follows:
-.TP
-\-h
+.Bl -tag -width Ds
+.It Fl h
Use the specified host instead of the default NIC (nic.ddn.mil).
-.PP
+.El
+.Pp
The operands specified to
-.I whois
+.Nm whois
are concatenated together (separated by white-space) and presented to
the
-.I whois
+.Nm whois
server.
-.PP
+.Pp
The default action, unless directed otherwise with a special
-.IR name ,
+.Ar name ,
is to do a very broad search, looking for matches to
-.I name
+.Ar name
in all types of records and most fields (name, nicknames, hostname, net
address, etc.) in the database.
For more information as to what
-.I name
+.Ar name
operands have special meaning, and how to guide the search, use
-the special name ``help''.
-.SH SEE ALSO
+the special name
+.Dq Ar help .
+.Sh SEE ALSO
RFC 812: Nicname/Whois
+.Sh HISTORY
+The
+.Nm
+command appeared in
+.Bx 4.3 .
projects / unix-history / blobdiff