Since 10.15.1. update apropos is broken

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Level 1

71 points

Since 10.15.1. update apropos is broken

Since 10.15.1 was installed on my iMac, I notice that get the following results from any apropos request. Of course, it could be due to other apps that I've installed? I can't remember now which ones I've installed recently though!? But I do know that apropos was working under 10.15.0.

ksaro1@Alexs-iMac ~ % apropos smb

mount_smbfs(8) - mount a shared resource from an SMB file server

nsmb.conf(5) - configuration file for SMB requests

smb-sync-preferences(8) - synchronize SMB server preferences

smbd(8) - SMB server daemon

smbdiagnose(8) - gather information to aid in diagnosing SMB file sharing issues

smbutil(1) - interface to the SMB requester

wspd(8) - search in smb share according to MS-WSP protocol

makewhatis: /usr/lib/./libgutenprint.2.dylib: No such file or directory

makewhatis: /usr/lib/libsasl2.2.0.1.dylib: Not a directory

makewhatis: /usr/lib/libldap.dylib: Not a directory

makewhatis: /usr/lib/libsqlite3.0.dylib: Not a directory

makewhatis: /usr/lib/libcom_err.dylib: Not a directory

makewhatis: /usr/lib/libresolv.dylib: Not a directory

makewhatis: /usr/lib/libnetsnmpagent.dylib: Not a directory

makewhatis: /usr/lib/libMatch.1.dylib: Not a directory

Posted on Nov 2, 2019 1:49 AM

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Answer 1

lprall

Level 1

16 points

Nov 5, 2019 2:20 PM in response to ksaro1

I noticed the same thing, and confirmed that it started with 10.15.1.

The command actually works, but it spits out nearly 300 lines of “Not a directory” errors.

I initially thought that perhaps it wasn’t handling symlinks correctly, but many of the errors are not from symlinks so the problem is something else.

I was also concerned at first that the problem might be deeper than just “makewhatis” but after a little more investigation not so much.

I’ve added a function to my .zshrc as a workaround:

apo() { apropos $1 2>/dev/null }

It seems to work as a qad solution.

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Answer 2

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Nov 5, 2019 2:27 PM in response to ksaro1

I usually use man -k for such searches. On Mojave...

apropos smb

cupsaddsmb(8)            - export printers to samba for windows clients

mount_smbfs(8)           - mount a shared resource from an SMB file server

nsmb.conf(5)             - configuration file for SMB requests

smb-sync-preferences(8)  - synchronize SMB server preferences

smbd(8)                  - SMB server daemon

smbdiagnose(8)           - gather information to aid in diagnosing SMB file sharing issues

smbutil(1)               - interface to the SMB requester

which is the same as...

 man -k smb

cupsaddsmb(8)            - export printers to samba for windows clients

mount_smbfs(8)           - mount a shared resource from an SMB file server

nsmb.conf(5)             - configuration file for SMB requests

smb-sync-preferences(8)  - synchronize SMB server preferences

smbd(8)                  - SMB server daemon

smbdiagnose(8)           - gather information to aid in diagnosing SMB file sharing issues

smbutil(1)               - interface to the SMB requester

Does man -k work properly on 10.15.1?

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Answer 3

ksaro1 Author

Level 1

71 points

Nov 7, 2019 3:07 AM in response to lprall

I think this issue is related to making / read-only. From man page of makewhatis I see

the default directory /usr/share/man will be processed.

I've not played around with setting MANPATH to a writeable area, but my guess is that would prevent these errors. However, the system man pages are all on / so what can you do?

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Answer 4

dot.com

Level 4

2,449 points

Nov 8, 2019 12:14 PM in response to lprall

Thanks for the tip about the apo workaround -- what a pain to have to wade thru 300 or so lines of errors every time you do a "man -k" -- how in the world did this ever not get discovered before 15.1 got released???

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