LIBDNET(3)

💖 libdnet(3) — the DECnet database functions library, bestie 💖

okay so. this is libdnet(3), and before you ask — yes, it's giving extremely niche, and yes, i am obsessed. it's the DECnet database functions library, and if you're here it's because something on your system is doing DECnet things and you wanna know what's under the hood. let's get into it 🫶

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

here's where the magic lives on disk, literally just these two files:

/usr/lib/libdnet.a

/usr/lib/libdnet.so

that's the static one (.a) and the shared one (.so), both chilling in /usr/lib. no cap, that's the whole synopsis. short and iconic. 💅

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

so these are the DECnet database functions libraries — a whole little squad of functions that you use to access and manipulate all the information contained in the DECnet hosts configuration file:

/etc/decnet.conf

like, every single thing in there. reading it, poking at it, changing it — that's what this library is for. it's the gateway between your code and the DECnet host database, and honestly? main character energy. 👑

if you're writing something that needs to know about DECnet nodes and you're hand-parsing /etc/decnet.conf yourself... bestie. no. use the library. that's literally what it's for. 😭

👀 SEE ALSO 👀

the whole friend group, go say hi to all of them:

• dnet_addr(3)
• dnet_htoa(3)
• dnet_ntoa(3)
• dnet_conn(3)
• getnodeadd(3)
• getnodebyname(3)
• getnodebyaddr(3)
• setnodeent(3)

and that's the page, bestie!! 💖 this was DECnet database functions, from the LIBDNET(3) manual page, dated July 28, 1998 — yes, 1998, she's vintage, she's a classic, we stan a legacy library that still shows up in the man pages. ✨🎀🦋

go read those SEE ALSO pages, i promise they're worth it. mwah. 💅🌸