1. Read the story. 2. Identify all of the Unix commands and utilities to which i
ID: 3646549 • Letter: 1
Question
1. Read the story.2. Identify all of the Unix commands and utilities to which it refers.
3. Look up each command or utility in the man pages.
4. In your lab report, include a description and an example usage of each of the commands or utilities you have identified.
who(1)'s on what(1)?
A Student calls the UNIX help desk with a question:
Student: What is the command that will tell me the revision code of program ?
UNIX help desk: Yes, that's correct.
Student: No, what is it ?
UNIX help desk: Yes.
Student: So, which is the one ?
UNIX help desk: No. 'which' is used to find the program.
Student: Stop this. Who are you ?
UNIX help desk: Use 'whoami' not 'whoryou'. You can also
'finger you' to get information about 'you'.
Student: All I want to know is what finds the revision code ?
UNIX help desk: Use 'what'.
Student: That's what I am trying to find out. Isn't that true ?
UNIX help desk: No. 'true' gives you 0.
Student: Which one ?
UNIX help desk: 'true' gives you 0. 'which programname'
Student: Let's get back to my problem. What program? How do I find it?
UNIX help desk: Type 'find / -name it -print' to find 'it'. Type
'what program' to get the revision code.
Student: I want to find the revision code.
UNIX help desk: You can't 'find revisioncode', you must use 'what program'.
Student: Which command will do what I need?
UNIX help desk: No. 'which command' will find 'command'.
Student: I think I understand. Let me write that.
UNIX help desk: You can 'write that' only if 'that' is a user on your system.
Student: Write what?
UNIX help desk: No. 'write that'. 'what program'.
Student: Cut that out!
UNIX help desk: Yes. those are valid files for 'cut'.
Don't forget the options.
Student: Do you always do this ?
UNIX help desk: 'du' will give you disk usage.
Student: HELP!
UNIX help desk: 'help' is only used for Source Code Control System (SCCS).
Student: You make me angry.
UNIX help desk: No, I don't 'make me' angry but I did 'make programname' when I was upset once.
Student: I don't want to make trouble, so no more.
UNIX help desk: No 'more'? 'which' will help you find 'more'. Every system has 'more'.
Student: Nice help! I'm confused more now!
UNIX help desk: Understand that since 'help' is such a small program, it is better not to 'nice help'. and 'more now' is not allowed but 'at now' is. Unless of course 'now' is a file name.
Student: This is almost as confusing as my PC.
UNIX help desk: I didn't know you needed help with 'pc'. Let me get you
to the Pascal compiler team.
Explanation / Answer
du filename --- shows the disk usage of the files and directories in filename (without argument the current directory is used). du -s gives only a total. cp filename1 filename2 --- copies a file rm filename --- removes a file. It is wise to use the option rm -i, which will ask you for confirmation before actually deleting anything. You can make this your default by making an alias in your .cshrc file. ff --- find files anywhere on the system. This can be extremely useful if you've forgotten in which directory you put a file, but do remember the name. In fact, if you use ff -p you don't even need the full name, just the beginning. This can also be useful for finding other things on the system, e.g. documentation. whoami --- returns your username. Sounds useless, but isn't. You may need to find out who it is who forgot to log out somewhere, and make sure *you* have logged out. finger & .plan files of course you can finger yourself, too. That can be useful e.g. as a quick check whether you got new mail. Try to create a useful .plan file soon. Look at other people's .plan files for ideas. The file needs to be readable for everyone in order to be visible through 'finger'. Do 'chmod a+r .plan' if necessary. You should realize that this information is accessible from anywhere in the world, not just to other people on turing.
Related Questions
Navigate
Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.