Unix as a Second Language

By Sandra Henry-Stocker

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Advice for everyday Unix systems administration and some clever ways to approach more challenging problems.

Linux tricks to speed up your workday

Sometimes a new way of getting work done on the Linux command line can be both interesting and time-saving

What's on your Linux network?

A couple of simple Linux commands can provide a lot of information about the systems and devices attached to your network.

File systems and UUIDs on Linux

File systems and UUIDs have a special relationship on Linux systems. What are these very long identifiers and how can you view the connections between them and disk partitions?

Basic scripting on Unix and Linux

If you're not yet comfortable with writing scripts on Unix and Linux systems, this post might get you off to a healthy start.

Creating and merging PDFs on Linux

Linux systems offer a lot of choices when it comes to generating, converting or merging PDF files. This post examines some easy-to-use options.

Selectively reusing commands on Linux

Command history on Linux and Unix systems provides a lot more ways to rerun commands than you might know.

Smart ways to compare files on Linux

Many new tools for comparing files have emerged in Linux over the years. In this post, we'll examine seven very useful tools for doing that.

Random identity generation in Linux

Generating a list of names, addresses and phone numbers can be very easy when you know what tools to use. Let's take a look at the rig command.

Factorials and unscrambling words with bash on Linux

Solving problems with bash can be challenging, not just for us using Linux, but also for bash.

Serious 10-year-old flaw in Linux sudo command; a new version patches it

A vulnerability in sudo can elevate unprivileged users to root privileges.

Using the vim editor in Linux to quickly encrypt and decrypt files

Most Linux users know vim as a text editor that descended from vi. It can also function as a tool for encrypting text files. In this post, we examine how this is done and how to reverse the process.

Examining network connections on Linux systems

Linux systems provide a lot of useful commands for reviewing network configuration and connections. Here's a look at a few, including ifquery, ifup, ifdown and ifconfig.

Looking into Linux user logins with lslogins

The lslogins command can help you look into details of user accounts and login activity

Automating responses to scripts on Linux using expect and autoexpect

The expect command can make running scripts a lot easier, especially if you need to run them repeatedly or when you're at home asleep.

2021 New Year's resolutions for Linux users

Linux has a wealth a powerful tools to make working with it easier and more productive, and here are some tips for taking advantage of them.

Checking network connections with arp and ip neigh

In Linux, the arp and ip neigh commands provide easy ways to check your local network.

Searching Wikipedia on the Linux command line with wikit

Wikit is a clever command for running Wikipedia searches from the Linux command line. It can help you run searches and save the output in text files. Take a look at how easily it works and learn what you need to know to get the...