How to get a clean screen — on the command line
After some time using terminal sessions they can get a bit cluttered with previous commands and their output data streams. At other times, I want...
How to do updates on the command line
Keeping your Linux computer as safe as possible from various types of cyber attacks is only possible if you perform updates regularly and upgrade to...
The secrets of the usermod command
Most SysAdmins use a diverse set of commands, but it's usually the same set of commands. And, most frequently, the same set of options for...
Processing files with ‘find’ and ‘xargs’
Here’s how I used ‘find’ and ‘xargs’ to locate the articles I wrote and count the words.
Use ImageMagick to work with images
ImageMagick is a handy multipurpose command-line tool for all your image needs.
How I find and kill rogue programs
As useful and important as Firefox is to my ability to interact with the outside world, create on this website, manage my money, and much...
The dd command — the Disk Destroyer
Yes -- dd -- the disk destroyer. The command that strikes fear into the hearts of SysAdmins everywhere. It did for me, too, until I...
5 Linux commands you should never run (and why)
Sometimes we run into articles on other sites that we wish we'd written. This one on ZDNET is an excellent example. There are some commands...
Searching text files from the command line
The find command is a powerful and flexible tool to locate files under a path.
Heading to the Beach
Tomorrow, Saturday as I write this, we’ll be heading to Atlantic Beach, our current favorite. By then time you read it, we’ll be there enjoying the amazing views including the one in the picture above. We do this every year.
To make my computing life as seamless as possible, I take my laptop. I always sync my home directory from my primary workstation to my laptop, named Voyager3 or vgr3 for short.
Using the screen command for flexibility
You might at first think of “screen” as the device on which your Linux desktop is displayed. That is one meaning. For SysAdmins like us,...
How I send email from the command line
There are times when I find it useful to send email from the command line. I’m not talking about using one of the text mode clients llike Alpine. I mean sending email directly from the command line.
The Linux Philosophy for SysAdmins, Tenet 05 — Embrace the CLI
Author's note: This article is excerpted in part from chapter 6 of my book, The Linux Philosophy for SysAdmins, with some changes. The Force is...
Check spelling at the command line
Check spelling at the command line like old-school Unix with this cool script.
How to use the base64 command on Linux
The base64 command converts binary data to ASCII data so that it can be transmitted as text. It's a common method of encoding used to...
How to use SSH
You may have heard that Linux and Unix computers give you the ability to control a computer other than the one you're sitting at. That's...