diff --git a/doc/bird.sgml b/doc/bird.sgml
index 7ddf82c7..c2c57836 100644
--- a/doc/bird.sgml
+++ b/doc/bird.sgml
@@ -3,6 +3,10 @@
-
In config, everything on a line after /*
-*/ is a comment, whitespace is ignored, C-style comments /* comment */ are also
-recognized. If there's variable number of options, they are grouped using
-BIRD is configured using a text configuration file. Upon startup, BIRD reads $prefix/bird.conf (unless the
+In the config, everything on a line after /*
+*/ is a comment, whitespace characters are treated as a single space. If there's a variable number of options, they are grouped using
+the Really simple configuration file might look like this: It enables
-synchronization of routing tables with kernel, scans for
-new network interfaces every 10 seconds and runs RIP on all interfaces found.
+Here is an example of a simple config file. It enables
+synchronization of routing tables with OS kernel, scans for
+new network interfaces every 10 seconds and runs RIP on all network interfaces found.
@@ -218,58 +217,57 @@ protocol rip {
log "
- set logging of classes (either all or
debug protocols all|off|{ states, routes, filters, interfaces, events, packets }
- sets global default of protocol debugging options.
+ Set global default of protocol debugging options.
- filter define filter. You can learn more about filters
- in next chapter.
+ filter Define a filter. You can learn more about filters
+ in the following chapter.
- function define function. You can learn more
- about functions
- in next chapter.
+ function Define a function. You can learn more
+ about functions in the following chapter.
- protocol rip|ospf|bgp|... protocol options } define protocol
- instance, called name (or called something like rip5 if you omit name). You can learn more
+ protocol rip|ospf|bgp|... protocol options } Define a protocol
+ instance called (or with a name like "rip5" generated automatically, if you don't specify ). You can learn more
about configuring protocols in their own chapters. You can run more than one instance of
- most protocols (like rip or bgp).
+ most protocols (like RIP or BGP).
- define define constant. You can use it later in every place
- you could use simple integer/ip address.
+ define Define a constant. You can use it later in every place
+ you could use a simple integer or IP address.
- router id set router id. Router id needs to be world-wide
- unique. It is usually one of router's IPv4 addresses.
+ router id Set BIRD's router ID. It's a world-wide unique identification of your router, usually one of router's IPv4 addresses.
- table create new routing table. Default
+ table Create a new routing table. The default
routing table is created implicitly, other routing tables have
to be added by this command.
- eval evaluates given filter expression. It
- is used by us for testing.
+ eval Evaluates given filter expression. It
+ is used by us for testing filters.
Protocol options
-Several options are per-protocol, but all protocols support them. They are described here.
+
Each routing protocol has its own set of options (see the corresponding sections). These options are common to all protocols:
- preference sets preference of routes generated by this protocol.
+ preference Sets the preference of routes generated by this protocol.
- disabled disables given protocol. You can disable/enable protocol from command
- line interface without needing to touch config. Disabled protocol is not activated.
+ disabled Disables the protocol. You can change the disable/enable status from the command
+ line interface without needing to touch the configuration. Disabled protocol is not activated.
- debug this is similar to global debug setting, except that it only
- affects one protocol. Only messages in selected debugging categories will be written to
+ debug Similar to global import filter can be either either { filter commands
@@ -355,7 +353,7 @@ pairs type name;, where each pair defines one local variable. Bo
several statements into one by { statements } construction, that is useful if
you want to make bigger block of code conditional.
-Bird supports functions, so that you don't have to repeat same blocks of code over and
+
BIRD supports functions, so that you don't have to repeat same blocks of code over and
over. Functions can have zero or more parameters, and can have local variables. They
look like this:
@@ -1160,5 +1158,5 @@ LocalWords: len ipaddress pxlen netmask enum bgppath bgpmask clist gw md eth
LocalWords: RTS printn quitbird iBGP AS'es eBGP RFC multiprotocol IGP Machek
LocalWords: EGP misconfigurations keepalive pref aggr aggregator BIRD's
LocalWords: OS'es AS's multicast nolisten misconfigured UID blackhole
-LocalWords: uninstalls ethernets
+LocalWords: uninstalls ethernets IP
-->