Unix as a Second Language

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

Checking Linux system performance with sar

The sar command can provide detailed system metrics on just about every aspect of system performance. You can query it on as as-needed basis or set it up to provide daily reports.

Rescuing a Linux system from near disaster

When a Linux user finds his system nearly out of disk space and unwilling to save files, fellow Linux users online provide a solution.

What you can find out asking which, whereis and whatis in Linux

The where, whereis and whatis commands summarize commands, show where executables are, and point to relevant man pages.

Troubleshooting your bash scripts

Bash provides some handy techniques for troubleshooting bash scripts, and they're very easy to use.

Viewing compressed file content on Linux without uncompressing

You can examine the contents of compressed files on Linux systems without uncompressing the files or changing them in any way. This post explains the commands for doing that and the types of compressed files they work with.

Using Gimp to modify PDF files

Gimp is normally used to create or manipulate images files, but can also work with PDFs if you understand how it works and what it's limits are.

6 Linux command-line tricks for fewer keystrokes

Linux has many tricks that can reduce the number of keystrokes it takes to type in commands. Here are six of them.

How to best set up command aliases on Linux

Setting up the most useful aliases on Linux is a mix of what's otherwise annoying to enter, hard to remember or typed way too often.

Red Hat announces Red Hat Edge initiative

Red Hat has outlined how it can bundle existing and new features to better support edge networks, an effort it calls Red Hat Edge.

Manipulating the Ubuntu dock to keep favorite apps handy

You can make accessing some applications on Ubuntu quite a bit easier by adding them to the dock. In this post, we look at how you can manipulate the dock -- adding applications, changing the size of its icons and even moving it to a...

Linux commands for testing connectivity and transfer rates

Here are five Linux commands that can verify connection speeds, analyze delays, and test whether other systems are reachable.

Taking control of your Ubuntu desktop

Ubuntu gives you control of what files show up on your desktop – even if they're not in your Desktop folder.

10 of the best ways to get help on Linux

There are many ways to get help while working on the Linux command line. Here are details on some of the most useful.

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?