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biff(1B)
give notice of incoming mail messages
From the original Amiga UNIX 2.1 manual. Some things it mentions may not be in this release.
NAME
biff - give notice of incoming mail messages
SYNOPSIS
/usr/ucb/biff [ y | n ]
DESCRIPTION
biff turns mail notification on or off for the terminal session. With no arguments, biff displays the current notification status for the terminal. The y option allows mail notification for the terminal. The n option disables notification for the terminal. If notification is allowed, the terminal rings the bell and displays the header and the first few lines of each arriving mail message. biff operates asynchronously. For synchronized notices, use the MAIL variable of sh(1) or the mail variable of csh(1). A `biff y' command can be included in your ~/.login or ~/.profile file for execution when you log in.
FILES
~/.login ~/.profile
SEE ALSO
csh(1), mail(1), sh(1) in the User's Reference Manual.