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1

Tips for faster note taking with Joplin

July 31, 2025July 24, 2025
2

Disk Disaster

July 30, 2025July 30, 2025
3

Ten moments that shaped Linux

July 29, 2025July 24, 2025
4

My six tenets for learning to be a Linux SysAdmin

July 28, 2025July 28, 2025
5

Three surprising reasons I like the Cinnamon desktop

July 25, 2025July 25, 2025
6

My worst self-inflicted IT disaster

July 24, 2025July 24, 2025
7

My Journey From Zero to Linux SysAdmin

July 23, 2025July 22, 2025
8

Making FORTRAN 77 easier to read

July 22, 2025July 21, 2025
9

An Algol 68 Pretty Printer

July 21, 2025July 17, 2025
  • Home
  • Jim Hall

jhall

Jim Hall is an open source software developer and advocate. His first contribution to open source was in 1993 with a patch to GNU Emacs, but he is probably best known for his work on FreeDOS, the open source version of the DOS operating system, and for his work on usability in open source software. In addition to writing open source software, Jim also writes about open source software, including Both.org and All Things Open, and about technical writing at Technically We Write.
Code Fortran 77 Programming

Making FORTRAN 77 easier to read

If you’re getting started with FORTRAN, add this pretty printer to your programming toolkit.

Jim Hall
July 22, 2025July 21, 2025
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Programming

3 ways to write bugs with FORTRAN 77

Explore old-style FORTRAN programming with Arithmetic IF, Computed GOTO, and Assigned GOTO.

Jim Hall
July 17, 2025July 15, 2025
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Bash Linux

Do I have enough space for that?

A little scripting goes a long way to make sure you won’t run out of space with an automated process.

Jim Hall
June 24, 2025June 20, 2025
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Command Line Linux

A beginner’s guide to dc

Learn the basics of this handy command line calculator.

Jim Hall
June 23, 2025June 20, 2025
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Command Line Linux

I need a list of URLs

I used the command line to do in seconds what would have needed more than ten minutes to do by hand.

Jim Hall
June 16, 2025June 10, 2025
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GRUB Kernel Linux

How to remove a stuck kernel from GRUB

Here’s how to fix the GRUB menu configuration from the command line.

Jim Hall
June 12, 2025June 4, 2025
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Command Line Disk Management Linux

What USB device is that?

Use kernel messages to identify which disk device you can mount.

Jim Hall
June 11, 2025June 4, 2025
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Linux Updates

How to selectively apply updates

Here’s how I selectively apply updates, excluding any kernel packages.

Jim Hall
June 10, 2025June 4, 2025
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Command Line Linux Pandoc

Straight quotes from pandoc

Change pandoc’s curly quotes into straight quotes with this script.

Jim Hall
June 9, 2025June 4, 2025
Read More
Command Line Fun Linux

Viewing PDF documents in console mode

I have a Raspberry Pi 3 that’s sat unused for the last few years. I used to run the Raspberry Pi as a personal “home...

Jim Hall
June 6, 2025May 31, 2025
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Fun Linux Raspberry Pi

Loving the command line with the Raspberry Pi

I’m going to show my age when I share that my first Unix system was a Sun 3/50 workstation in our campus computer lab, when...

Jim Hall
June 4, 2025May 31, 2025
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Linux Open Source Tools Writing

Writing with open source tools

Aside from my other work, I also teach a few university courses about technical writing. One class I like to teach is about writing with...

Jim Hall
June 2, 2025May 31, 2025
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Command Line Linux

Extracting text with awk

The awk script interpreter is a very handy tool for systems administrators, and anyone else who uses Linux at the command line. With awk, you...

Jim Hall
May 30, 2025May 28, 2025
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Fixing problems I really borked it this time Problem Solving System Administration

My first sysadmin mistake

If you work in IT, you know that things never go completely as you think they will. At some point, you’ll hit an error, or...

Jim Hall
May 29, 2025May 27, 2025
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History Linux

A brief history of the Linux desktop

Let’s look back on a brief history of the Linux desktop.

Jim Hall
May 19, 2025May 18, 2025
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Programming

How I use GNU Indent

Let GNU Indent make your source code easier to read.

Jim Hall
May 12, 2025May 5, 2025
Read More

Posts pagination

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Random Quote

Technology is dominated by two types of people: those who understand what they do not manage, and those who manage what they do not understand.

— Archibald Putt

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Links: Open Source Software

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“systemd for SysAdmins” Now Available

May 13,2025

My latest book — a #1 New Release on Amazon — “systemd for Linux  SysAdmins” is now available from my publisher, Apress, and on Amazon.

2nd Edition now Available

All three volumes of this best-selling second edition of my Linux Self-Study course are now available from Apress and Amazon. See the details of this 3-volume self-study course.

Technically We Write — Our Partner Site

Our partner site, Technically We Write, has published a number of articles from several contributors to Both.org. Check them out.

Technically We Write is a community of technical writers, technical editors, copyeditors, web content writers, and all other roles in technical communication.

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  • About Us
  • Linux
    • Why I use Linux
    • The real reason we use Linux
  • My Linux Books
    • systemd for Linux SysAdmins
    • Using and Administering Linux – Zero to SysAdmin: 2nd Edition
    • The Linux Philosophy for SysAdmins
    • Linux for Small Business Owners
    • Errata
      • Errata for The Linux Philosophy for SysAdmins
      • Errata for Using and Administering Linux — 1st Edition
      • Errata for Using and Administering Linux — 2nd Edition
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