biff(1b) on Solnix vs Linux and the BSDs
On Solnix, biff is the illumos BSD-compatibility command at /usr/ucb/biff, not in the standard /usr/bin. It takes y or n only. Unlike the BSD pages, the Solnix page documents no exit status and no FreeBSD-style b (bell) mode.
The manual pages
- Solnix: biff(1b) from
pkgs.solnix.illumos-world-man· illumos.org - FreeBSD: biff(1) 15.1-RELEASE
- OpenBSD: biff(1) 8.0
- NetBSD: biff(1) 11.0
What Solnix runs
The default Solnix biff is the illumos one at /usr/ucb/biff, published as biff(1b) in pkgs.solnix.illumos-world-man. No other variants are listed. /usr/ucb may not be on your PATH, so call it by full path if the command is not found.
Differences
| Compared with | Topic | What differs |
|---|---|---|
| FreeBSD | b (bell) option | FreeBSD biff accepts b to enable bell-only notification (two bell characters). Solnix biff accepts only y and n, so biff b is not documented there. Source: FreeBSD biff(1) SYNOPSIS, b; Solnix biff(1b) SYNOPSIS, OPTIONS |
| FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD | exit status | FreeBSD, OpenBSD and NetBSD biff exit 0 when notification was enabled, 1 when disabled, and >1 on error. The Solnix page has no EXIT STATUS section, so scripts should not rely on these values there. Source: FreeBSD/OpenBSD/NetBSD biff(1) EXIT STATUS; Solnix biff(1b) (no EXIT STATUS section) |
| FreeBSD | which terminal is affected | FreeBSD biff acts on the first terminal found on stdin, stdout or stderr, in that order, so redirection can toggle another terminal. The Solnix page says only 'the terminal session'. Source: FreeBSD biff(1) DESCRIPTION; Solnix biff(1b) DESCRIPTION |
| FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD | bell on arrival | Solnix says that with notification allowed the terminal rings the bell and shows the header and first few lines. The OpenBSD and NetBSD pages mention only the header and first lines. FreeBSD splits these into y (header) and b (bell). Source: Solnix biff(1b) DESCRIPTION; OpenBSD biff(1) DESCRIPTION; NetBSD biff(1) DESCRIPTION; FreeBSD biff(1) y, b |
| FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD | path and comsat reference | Solnix biff is at /usr/ucb/biff, a BSD-compatibility directory. The BSD pages give no path and list comsat(8) in SEE ALSO. The Solnix page lists csh, mail, sh and attributes(7), and not comsat.Source: Solnix biff(1b) SYNOPSIS, SEE ALSO; FreeBSD/OpenBSD/NetBSD biff(1) SEE ALSO |
| Linux | Linux counterpart | No Linux biff page is in the bundle, so the manual gives no Linux comparison here. Source: Bundle header: counterparts are FreeBSD, OpenBSD and NetBSD only |
Standards
- POSIX: biff is not a POSIX.1-2024 utility.
Writing portable scripts
- Use only biff y and biff n in portable scripts. Do not depend on b, which only FreeBSD documents.
- Do not branch on biff's exit status: the BSD pages document 0 and 1 for enabled and disabled, and the Solnix page documents no exit status.
Every difference here is taken from the manual pages linked above: Solnix's published page, Linux (man-pages and the GNU and util-linux manuals), FreeBSD, OpenBSD and NetBSD. Each row names its source. Where a manual is silent, this page is too. Compiled 2026-10-26. Found a mistake? Mail hackers@lists.solnix.io.