File: inetutils.info,  Node: Exit status,  Up: Common options

2.1 Exit status
===============

Nearly every command invocation yields an integral "exit status" that
can be used to change how other commands work.  For the vast majority of
commands, an exit status of zero indicates success.  Failure is
indicated by a nonzero value -- typically '1', though it may differ on
unusual platforms, as POSIX requires only that it be nonzero.