[lotuseclat79]

Learn 10 good Unix usage habits.

Break bad Unix usage patterns

Adopt 10 good habits that improve your UNIX® command line efficiency -- and break away from bad usage patterns in the process. This article takes you step-by-step through several good, but too often neglected, techniques for command-line operations. Learn about common errors and how to overcome them, so you can learn exactly why these UNIX habits are worth picking up.

Adopt 10 good habits

Ten good habits to adopt are:

1. Make directory trees in a single swipe.
2. Change the path; do not move the archive.
3. Combine your commands with control operators.
4. Quote variables with caution.
5. Use escape sequences to manage long input.
6. Group your commands together in a list.
7. Use xargs outside of find .
8. Know when grep should do the counting -- and when it should step aside.
9. Match certain fields in output, not just lines.
10. Stop piping cats.

-- Tom

[prunejuice]

Originally Posted by lotuseclat79

10. Stop piping cats.

Oh yeah? I will when they stop knocking over my trash cans!

[namenotfound]

Originally Posted by prunejuice

Oh yeah? I will when they stop knocking over my trash cans!

LOL that's funny

[briealeida]

I'm so used to doing things the inefficient way.
I need to stop the cycle. These are great tips that resurface every now and then. :-).