Sandra Henry-Stocker
Unix Dweeb
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Sandra Henry-Stocker has been administering Unix systems for more than 30 years. She describes herself as "USL" (Unix as a second language) but remembers enough English to write books and buy groceries. She lives in the mountains in Virginia where, when not working with or writing about Unix, she's chasing the bears away from her bird feeders.
The opinions expressed in this blog are those of Sandra Henry-Stocker and do not necessarily represent those of IDG Communications, Inc., its parent, subsidiary or affiliated companies.
Many ways to use the echo command on Linux
The echo command is simple, except when it isn't. Here's a look at the basic command along with some of the more challenging things it can do.
Joining lines of text on Linux
There are a number of commands on Linux that can help you turn a series of lines of text into a single line. This article explains two of them and provides some scripts to make the job even easier.
Manipulating text with awk, gawk and sed
The awk, gawk and sed commands can turn tedious work into quick fixes. Check out the ways these commands can help get work done smoothly and easily.
Using Linux hexedit and xxd commands to view and modify binary files
The hexedit command provides a way to edit binary files, but to view and save the content in a file for later analysis without editing, try the xxd command.
Working with image files on the Linux command line
There's a lot to learn about image files on the command line, from verifying file format to finding out where and when photos were taken and maybe even getting an unusual view of what they look like.
Commands and settings for managing user accounts on Linux
To manage user accounts on Linux systems, you'll need to be familiar with some important files and commands.
Linux files: creating, listing, updating, and more
Linux provides a number of handy commands for managing file permissions, understanding who has access to the files and checking on file content.
Using the Linux locale command
The locale settings on Linux systems can sync dates and times with where you are in the world.
Creating and removing directory structures on Linux
A few clever Linux commands can make it a lot easier to create, view and remove complex directory structures.
Using the ss command on Linux to view details on sockets
The ss command on Linux systems can provide extensive details on the sockets that provide communications between systems. This article describes ss and some of the many options available to you.
7 ways to look at network connections on Linux
Linux provides a number of commands for examining network connections and sometimes creates new ones to expand functionality.
Converting numbers on Linux among decimal, hexadecimal, octal, and binary
Linux provides commands for converting numbers from one base to another. Learn how to uses these commands and how to make the process easier with scripts and aliases.
Linux bash tips: Many ways to loop using bash
There are many ways to loop through data on Linux using bash and many ways to generate the data to be looped through.
Commands for finding out if compressed Linux files are the same
The zdiff and zcmp commands can see if Linux files differ and if so, how.
Using the zip and zipcloak commands on Linux
The highly compatible zip, unzip and zipcloak commands on Linux can help you create encrypted zip files and extract their contents as needed.
Ways to look at logged in users on Linux
Linux provides a lot of useful commands for looking at users, their activity and their impact on the system.
Looking at user login time with the ac command
The ac command can provide very useful summaries of how much time users spend logged into a Linux system. It gets its data from the wtmp file.
Bash: A primer for more effective use of the Linux bash shell
There are lots of sides to bash and much to know before you're likely to feel comfortable snuggling up to it. This post examines many aspects of this very popular shell and recommends further reading.
Counting individual characters on Linux
If you need to count how many of each character is included in a file or phrase, there are some handy commands you can string together to accomplish this along with scripts and aliases that can make the job easy.