Question about program names

I can't help but to notice that all the software has a bracketed number following the name. For example Ath(4) or Chat ( 8 )
What does the number designate?

doktornotor

See the man sections here: http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=man&sektion=1&apropos=0

Thanks, until I found the dropdown i was lost!!!!
So (4) is program category for Special and ( 8 ) for Maintaince programs.
Has this been the case in all BSD'S forever??

I am impressed with the speed of my Mate desktop on FreeBSD. Configuring the wireless was manual but I appreciate the minimalist approach…

doktornotor

@Phishfry:

Has this been the case in all BSD'S forever??

Shrug; these man sections are not anything BSD specific. It's only really useful when the manpage with the same name exists in multiple sections (obviously with different content).