Here is a good tip i learned a couple of days ago. If you are in the command line and you are using the command less like this Code: less <filename> It will print out the content of the file on to the screen but if you hit 'v' it will bring you to your favorite editor so that you can edit your file
Ouh. When I saw the title I was expecting something more than just less or more.. thought those were rudimentary commands. Then again, apart from maybe Ken, who's actually gonna appreciate it in ARP? 99.95% of users here are pure Windoze users That said, I don't mind giving ARP-ians who are interested, a crash course in UNIX. Serious
Oh? Simple? Here's a tip for the simplest command ever... ls. ls -lS. Sort by filesize and in long format. 9/10 people who use UNIX on a regular basis that I know don't even know what -S is for. most common are -a, -l, -F, -h, -o. In fact, I have ll aliased to ls -lahoF
Well, that was based on my judgement from the responses I got from my UNIX article last time. Things may have changed and some people may have tried Linux after that (if yes, hallelujah! ) But from my observation of the active forumers, not really Say, Ken. I remember owing ARP a Part II to that UNIX article.. you guys still want it? I might be able to squeeze some time to write it over the next few weeks. I remember it was supposed to be on simple and (power) text manipulation/editing in Linux.. stuff like vi/vim, emacs, and filters and stream editors..
Hmmm... you using vi or vim? vi makes me want to pull my hair off. vim is still my favourite text editor until today, although TextMate (Mac only) is able to do most things that vim can do. You'll be amazed at the things vim can do..
Well, the problems with remembering the vi commands tends to decrease the more often you make use of it. Thing is, despite how arcane vi can seem to be, one has got to admire the design of the thing too, considering how it had stood the test of time. You will not find a better editor to be used in situations where resources, especially bandwidth is limited, such as the situation now. One useful thing to remember when trying to decipher the arcaneness of vi is the layout of the usual qwerty keyboard too. the vi editor commands allows those commands to be entered with minimal movement of the hands.
Hmm, Ken, if you've noticed, the commands are linked closely to the command letter itself, for example, dd - delete p - paste g - go to line ... and so forth. Here's a better formatted document of common vi/vim commands
If you ask me, the trouble with the lack of acceptance of any platform is really not so much about whether the platform is good or bad. Rather, it's the lack of coverage on it, and the lack of evangelists preaching its virtues. No matter how good Linux or UNIX is, unless people can see just how easy it is, why should they try it? People don't like the unknown. It frightens them. So, if we want to spread word about Linux or UNIX, it might start with articles.. guides.. that show people how easy it is to start using them. I don't think newbies would really migrate to a new platform simply because it's less vulnerable to viruses, crashes, etc. Like every human being, they just want to take the easiest path. If you ask me, we should come up with articles and guides like... 1. [OS] Installation Guide 2. [OS] Tweaking Guide 3. [OS] Hints & Tips Guide Preferably all these guides should have plenty of screenshots and pictures.
Something interesting for a thought too. Newbies to computers can actually handle linux better than those who've used computers for a few years And I'm not kidding here. When I first got my parents their first iBook, I tried a little experiment. I dumped in Linux first and used a rather minimal Windowmaker WM, and my mum had far less grumbles compared to when she was using Windows XP for the 6 months before that. But of mileage may vary too, depending on what the needs are.
Well, yeah, that's what I said. Anyways my point is in that most migration issues lies in the difficulty in adjusting to a differing way of doing things.
Actually not all vim commands are intuitive, example: ZZ - Save and close zf - create fold zc - close fold But i still like it