The man command displays documentation pages for various commands, system calls, library functions, and more. To display these pages, the man program uses a tool called a pager. A pager is simply any tool that displays the contents of a text file, with some support for moving through the file one line—or one screen—at a time.
To change the pager used by the man command, Linux programs provide several ways:
1. **Command-line options**: Use the -P option to override the default pager.
2. **Environment variables**: Set environment variables in files like ~/.bash_profile or /etc/environment.
3. **Configuration files**: Some versions of man use a configuration file to set the pager.
The most commonly used pagers are less and more. Less is often used by default, but you can change it to another pager using the -P option.
When choosing a pager, consider your needs:
* Do you want to be able to scroll backwards through pages?
* Do you need advanced features like section navigation?
Two alternative pagers worth considering are most and ov. Most is fast and has a tiny executable, but its features may not be useful for man pages. Ov is a newer release with excellent documentation and supports interactive commands.
To customize your pager, use options like –header or –section-delimiter. These options can make reading man pages easier and more efficient.
In summary, using a pager with the man command can improve your experience when reading documentation pages on Linux. Choose a pager that meets your needs and customize it to suit your preferences.
Source: https://www.howtogeek.com/upgrade-your-man-pager-for-better-linux-help