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Questions tagged [unix]

Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs.

184 votes
5 answers
185k views

How to run Unix commands from within Vim?

How can I run Unix commands while I'm inside vim?
funk-shun's user avatar
  • 2,673
170 votes
10 answers
630k views

ls-command: how to display the file size in megabytes?

In Unix (Tru64), how do I make the ls command show the file size in megabytes? Currently I am able to show it in bytes using the following: ls -la
user avatar
168 votes
4 answers
118k views

How to use spaces in a bash alias name?

I am trying to create an aliases in bash. What I want to do is map ls -la to ls -la | more In my .bashrc file this is what I attempted: alias 'ls -la'='ls -la | more' However it does not work ...
sixtyfootersdude's user avatar
157 votes
5 answers
57k views

which/whereis differences

What's the difference between which and whereis ?
mk12's user avatar
  • 3,252
148 votes
5 answers
19k views

How does Linux know that the new password is similar to the previous one?

A few times I tried to change a user password on various Linux machines and when the new password was similar to the old one, the OS complained that they were too similar. I always wondered, how does ...
ps-aux's user avatar
  • 3,785
137 votes
6 answers
49k views

How do I reload .inputrc?

Background I have heard that the readline module is reading ~/.inputrc and that is how it changes the behaviour of keystrokes under programs such as bash. Question How can I reload this after ...
Captain Lepton's user avatar
136 votes
4 answers
230k views

What is effect of CTRL + Z on a unix\Linux application

I was curious and confused that what exactly is the behaviour of ctrl+z. I know, If a process in running in foreground, and we press ctrl+z, it goes to background. But what exactly happens?. Does it ...
Kumar Alok's user avatar
  • 1,643
135 votes
3 answers
255k views

What is the "wheel" user in macOS/OS X?

I recently reinstalled iTunes and I noticed something peculiar. The original version of iTunes has a user in the permissions known as wheel that is set to "Read Only". I dragged this version ...
ralphthemagician's user avatar
134 votes
4 answers
155k views

How do file permissions apply to symlinks?

Let's say you have this structure: + directory -- file1 -- file2 -- file3 -> /tmp/file3 file3 is a link to another file3 somewhere else on the system. Now let's say I chmod 777 the directory and ...
nopcorn's user avatar
  • 16.7k
131 votes
4 answers
131k views

How does one switch between windows on VIM?

I'm using both Vim and MacVim (or well, trying to). I installed the Tagbar plugin but find it impossible to switch to the actual Tagbar window to make my selection. I've been reading loads about ...
Naatan's user avatar
  • 1,405
126 votes
2 answers
69k views

How to start vim without executing /etc/vimrc?

On my Linux server at work, the admins did not install cscope, and I installed it from source in my home directory and added it to the $PATH. The trouble is, the /etc/vimrc has a reference to /usr/...
florin's user avatar
  • 1,463
123 votes
3 answers
220k views

How do I gunzip to a different destination directory?

How do I gunzip to a destination directory other than the current one? This did not work: gunzip *.gz /putthemhere/
Scott Sz's user avatar
  • 1,883
120 votes
18 answers
18k views

What's the quickest way to count the number of each character in a file?

I want to count the A's T's C's G's N's and "-" characters in a file, or every letter if needed, is there a quick Unix command to do this?
120 votes
12 answers
120k views

How to sort first directories then files etc… when using “ls” in Unix

I would like to use the ls command to first show directories and then files. I tried: ls -la | sort -k 1 But I got a wrong order.
atricapilla's user avatar
  • 1,327
117 votes
2 answers
72k views

Why does Windows use backslashes for paths and Unix forward slashes?

It annoys me having used Unix in college and now working on the Windows side. What's the history behind this decision? Anyone know why it worked out this way?
jrsconfitto's user avatar
  • 1,116

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