o1bigtenor:

> Given that Devuan is about the 'not' use of systemd it would seem sorta
> normal to have a how-to for a newbie

I don't follow the logic in that.
Are you saying that thoose who don't use systemd needs newbie
documentation ?

> - - - - - and I couldn't find anything
> that wasn't using systemd except for npt and then

Look in:
/var/lib/dpkg/info/ntp.list
and you'll find that both man pages and html pages are provided.

If that doesn't help you, go to
http://www.ntp.org/
and click on the Documentation link.

If that doesn't help you, ask about the specific problem you have.

> npt only synchronizes only on machine starts.

That is wrong, I guess you are thinking about initial sync.

You can do initial syncronisation with e.g. ntpdate, but ntpd can do
that also, but can take more time before it decides to jump the clock
if it differ too much.

Then ntpd, while running, will at some regular interval,
syncronize the clock. Run ntpq -p to see the polling interval.

The ntp.conf file installed with devuan is perfectly fine for
a newbies always-connected system. If your box only has intermittent
connection to the internet, ntpd might not be what you need.
You might then be better served by chrony or something else.

Regards,
/Karl Hammar