Manual page update.

babel.man

@@ -3,42 +3,7 @@
 babel \- ad-hoc network routing daemon
 .SH SYNOPSIS
 .B babel
-[
-.B \-m
-.I multicast-address
-]
-[
-.B \-p
-.I port
-] [
-.B -S
-.I state-file
-] [
-.B \-h
-.I hello-interval
-] [
-.B \-H
-.I wired-hello-interval
-] [
-.B \-u
-.I update-interval
-] [
-.B \-k
-.I kernel-metric
-] [
-.B \-s
-] [
-.B \-b
-] [
-.B \-p
-] [
-.B \-d
-.I level
- ] [
-.B \-n
-.I
-.I prefix cost
-]...
+.IR option ...
 .I address
 .IR interface ...
 .SH DESCRIPTION
@@ -46,10 +11,10 @@ Babel is a loop-avoiding distance-vector routing protocol roughly
 based on DSDV and AODV, but with provisions for link cost estimation
 and injection of external routes.
 
-While it is optimised for wireless mesh networks, Babel will also
-work efficiently on classical wired networks.  In the worst case, it
-will generate roughly double the amount of traffic that RIPng would
-generate, while never counting to infinity.
+While it is optimised for wireless mesh networks, Babel will also work
+efficiently on wired networks.  In the worst case, it will generate
+roughly double the amount of traffic that RIPng would generate, while
+never counting to infinity.
 .SH OPTIONS
 .TP
 .BI \-m " multicast-address"
@@ -63,24 +28,25 @@ Set the name of the file used for preserving long-term information
 between invocations of the
 .B babel
 daemon.  If this file is deleted, the daemon will run in passive mode
-for 3 minutes when it is next invoked (see
+for 3 minutes when it is next started (see
 .B -P
-below), and other hosts might initially not accept to route to it.
-The default is
+below), and other hosts might initially ignore it.  The default is
 .BR /var/lib/babel-state .
 .TP
 .BI \-h " hello-interval"
-Specify the interval in seconds at which periodic hello packets are
+Specify the interval in seconds at which scheduled hello packets are
 sent on wireless interfaces.  The default is 8.
 .TP
 .BI \-H " wired-hello-interval"
-Specify the interval in seconds at which periodic hello packets are
+Specify the interval in seconds at which scheduled hello packets are
 sent on wired interfaces.  The default is 30.
 .TP
 .BI \-u " update-interval"
-Specify the interval in seconds at which periodic routing table dumps
+Specify the interval in seconds at which scheduled routing table dumps
 are made on all interfaces.  The default is either the wired hello
-interval, or 150, whichever is less.
+interval, or 150, whichever is less.  Babel uses triggered updates in
+addition to scheduled updates, so this value may be set to a fairly
+large value.
 .TP
 .BI \-k " kernel-metric"
 Specify a value that will be added to routes' metrics before
@@ -99,6 +65,12 @@ will disable detection of asymmetric links, and is therefore not
 recommended.  Messages specific to each peer are always sent on
 wireless interfaces.
 .TP
+.BI \-c " cost"
+Add
+.I cost
+to the metrics of advertised routes.  This is useful for example when
+we are low on battery and hardly eager to forward packets.
+.TP
 .B \-P
 Run in parasitic (passive) mode.  The daemon will not announce any
 routes except to itself.
@@ -110,11 +82,7 @@ requests tracing every message sent or received.  The default is 0.
 .TP
 .BI \-n " network cost"
 Advertise an external route for the given network or host with the
-given cost.  We suggest a cost of 256 \[mu]
-.RI ( n
-+ 1) for a network
-.I n
-hops away.
+given cost.
 .I Network
 should be either the string
 .BR default ,
@@ -123,6 +91,15 @@ or a nework specification in CIDR notation
 If
 .I length
 is omitted, it defaults to 128 (a host route).
+.I Cost
+should either be a 16-bit unsigned integer, or the string
+.B infinity
+which specifies a blackhole route.
+We suggest a cost of 256 \[mu]
+.I n
+for a network
+.I n
+hops away.
 .TP
 .I address
 The IPv6 address that the node should advertise for itself.
@@ -133,7 +110,7 @@ of 0.)
 The list of interfaces on which the protocol should operate.
 .SH WIRED INTERFACES
 By default, the daemon optimises traffic on wired interfaces by
-sending fewer periodic hello messages and performing split-horizon
+sending fewer scheduled hello messages and performing split-horizon
 processing.  These optimisations can be disabled by using the
 .B -H
 and
@@ -167,8 +144,8 @@ protocol's operation.
 Since Babel uses link-local addresses only, there is no need to update
 firewalls to allow forwarding of Babel protocol packets.  If filtering
 is done on a host, UDP datagrams to the protocol port should be
-opened.  As Babel uses unicast packets in some cases, just allowing
-packets destined to the multicast address is not enough.
+allowed.  As Babel uses unicast packets in some cases, it is not
+enough to just allow packets destined to Babel's multicast address.
 .SH BUGS
 Plenty.  This is experimental software, run at your own risk.
 .SH SEE ALSO