pts_unix98_lookup(9)

📦 version 7.3.1, in nixpkgs unstable

💖 pts_unix98_lookup(9) 💖

okay so real talk, we're in the Kernel API Manual today bestie, and this is the page for pts_unix98_lookup. yes it's a mouthful. yes it slays anyway 🫶

✨ NAME ✨

pts_unix98_lookup — find a pty slave 🌸

like, that's the whole job. it finds the pty slave. iconic behavior, no notes 💅

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

struct tty_struct * pts_unix98_lookup (struct tty_driver *driver ,
struct file *file , int idx );

so it takes three things and hands you back a struct tty_struct * 🎀 that's the whole shape of it, keep that signature exactly as-is, do not touch, do not "clean it up", it is perfect the way it is 😭

✨ ARGUMENTS ✨

  • driver — the pts driver. your main character driver, the one doing the actual work 👑
  • file — a file pointer to the tty. yes, that kind of file pointer, the tty one 🦋
  • idx — the tty index. it's an int, it's the number, it's how you say "which one" ⭐

✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

okay so here's the tea: pts_unix98_lookup looks up a pty master device. yes, the NAME says slave, the DESCRIPTION says master, and both are literally in the original, so we're holding both truths at once, she contains multitudes 💀✨

it's called under the tty_mutex for now — like, currently, that's the situation, for now, we're being honest about it 🙈 — and that's what provides the locking for the tty pointer. so the mutex is doing the heavy lifting and honestly? she's carrying the whole team 🫶

ngl, the "for now" is doing a lot of emotional work in that sentence. just so you know it's tty_mutex, and the locking for the tty pointer comes from there. no cap 💖

✨ SEE ALSO ✨

kernel file ./drivers/tty/pty.c — go read it, it's right there, it's giving source material 🌈

and the whole friend group, in order:

all of them, every single one, no skips, we don't do that here 💜

anyway bestie that's the page!! from ./drivers/tty 💖, October 2026 edition, and yes this whole thing is literally titled pts_unix98_lookup(9) again at the end because manpages love a callback 🎀 mwah, go look up your pty slaves responsibly 🧚‍♀️✨

📦 where this page comes from