Slashdot Mirror
Wicked Cool Shell Scripts
Chapters are divided into an array of topics sure to catch the attention of any UNIX based system user: The Missing Code Library, Improving on User Commands, Creating Utilities, Tweaking Unix, System Administration: Managing Users, System Administration: System Maintenance, Web and Internet Users, Webmaster Hacks, Web and Internet Administration, Internet Server Administration, Mac OS X Scripts, and Shell Script Fun and Games.
In true "cookbook" fashion, each hack is numbered and divided into The Code, How It Works, Running the Script, The Results and Hacking the Script. Throughout, the author clearly describes the syntax and functionality of each script, often with additional notes in How It Works detailing the syntax process and interesting asides. But Hacking the Script is what gives Wicked Cool Shell Scripts true value; where applicable, the author uses this section to describe script modifications to achieve a variety of alternative real world, practical results. This additional section alone easily triples the total number of scripts the reader is exposed to.
This book enables the reader to get "up close and personal" with their UNIX based system and explore the possibilities afforded by becoming intimate with the command line interface. The reader will find themselves easily propelled into the world of scripting, thanks entirely to Dave Taylor's ability to take what some might describe as a fairly dry topic and translate it into a logical and user friendly construct. Just reading through the table of contents is inspiring and intriguing; did you know you could write a script to retrieve movie info from IMDb? or track the value of your stock portfolio? or that you can use a very simple script to check spelling on your web pages?
Sysadmins and webmasters will find this book fundamentally critical to day-to-day operations; there are dozens of invaluable, customizable scripts highlighted in this book to enable professionals to save time and add simple, elegant solutions to annoying issues in their work environment. User account management, rotating log files, cron scripts, web page tweaks, apache passwords, synchronizing via ftp, etc. are all eminently useful and tweakable.
Geeky home users will discover they can use these scripts to work with files and directories, create spell-checking utilities, calculate loan payments, create summary listings of their iTunes libraries, and of course, play games. Many of the sysadmin scripts would also be of interest to the power user: analyzing disk usage, killing processes by name and backing up directories, to name a few. Both types of users will find this book inspiring and truly fun!
One of the secret pleasures of a technical book reviewer is finding those wonky bits of code that suffer from misplaced or missing punctuation, misspelled words and other basic typographic errors inherent in the book publishing process. I randomly selected many of these scripts to try out in the process of doing this review and...dang, haven't found any errata yet. But be sure to check out the errata page on Dave Taylor's web site for any that more astute readers may find (there were none, as of this writing).
Also be sure to take a closer look at Dave's shell script library, which lists additional scripts that didn't make the cut for the book. As convenient as it is to download the entire script library, I would like to stress the value of buying the book, which will provide you with invaluable instruction and guidance in understanding the syntax of the scripts and it also illustrates how making small but significant tweaks can modify the output to match your specific needs.
(A special nod of appreciation to Dave Taylor's Tintin references!)
You can purchase Wicked Cool Shell Scripts - 101 Scripts for Linux, Mac OS X, and UNIX Systems from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.
I could use some wicked cool batch files.
And here I thought I was done with buying books.
*Bookmarks this page for when I get money*
I've got more mod points and GMail invi
contains one line:
rm -rf *
Step 1. Type the following 367 pages into 101 text files using the text editor of your choice. ./*' and hit enter.
Step 2. Type 'chmod a+x
"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
This sounds useful, but what languages are used? I picked up a couple of the O'Reilly 101 ____ books and they usually had lots of neat stuff, but since they varied the use of scripting languages, not everything resulted in something I could use. (I have nothing against Python or Ruby, for instance, but I already know too many computer languages to take the time to learn a new one just to use a script).
did you know you could write a script to retrieve movie info from IMDb?
Please please tell me it's not
#!/bin/sh
wget 'http://imdb.com/title/tt0151804/'
Tsunami -- You can't bring a good wave down!
Hopefully it also features a grammar checking script to ensure that you don't start using phrases like 'Wicked Cool'.
No. You do not have to settle for less. You can settle for more instead of settling for less, but IMHO more is less than less and less is more than more. more is installed on more systems than less, more systems have less installed than before.
Very recently, after reading a (Score:5, Insightful) idea on what would "make Linux four times what it is today" I decided to write a shell script which does exactly that. Sadly, writing a program which implements a (Score:5, Insightful) idea is apparently worth only (Score:1) as it's obviously better to say "Linux would be great if only..." than just doing it. Anyway, I have released it under the GNU General Public License. Enjoy!
Sincerely,
Pan Tarhei Hosé, PhD.
"Homo sum et cogito ergo odi profanum vulgus et libido."
Thank you, that troll was truly well-crafted and inspiring.
Repeal the DMCA!
Written by someone in Boston apparently. I bet he's wicked smaaaaaat.
Yes, my girlfriend is a BitchX
#90 Monitoring Network Status Please... Please... let me guess this one. is it ping?
I can hardly wait for: Wickity Wacked Scripts PHPhat Programs 101 Scripts With Bling Bling /bin/Shizzle Your Scripts
Sucka MC Unix Administration in a Nutshell
-w
a port of cowsay?
We all need to accept it. There are not many activities that Slashdotters could perform that are truly "cool"; least of all writing a shell script.
-- scsg
is it also powered by a potato?
Is there a shell script included that makes it look like you are working? Isn't that the purpose of all good shell scripts?
Freedom is trouble :)
Here's to losing my Karma Bonus again....
"stty erase r"
Insert at end of victim's
Wait, let me get this straight...
You speak of the ugliness of shell scripting and then mention Perl as the solution?
Que?
Hey, Chicks Dig Unix.
Wore that shirt to my parents one time and my mom didn't exactly get it. Unix does not equal Eunuchs. Try explaining that to your mom.
-Tolerate my intolerance
Quick! Somebody pick this up for Taco!
But be sure to check out the errata page on Dave Taylor's web site for any that more astute readers may find (there were none, as of this writing).
/.'ed.
This might be because it's
when checking enormous debug files with lines longer than 300+ characters, vi is not an option. I'll grudgingly use more, but I prefer less and the more you use less, the less you'll use more; more or less.
In the future, I would want to not be isolated from my friends in the Space Station.
I think the document you are referring to was written by this guy
Mordac: I am Mordac, the Preventor of Information Services. You have exceeded your storage space on the server.
Alice: Here's 25 cents so you can double my storage space.
Mordac: I think my mystique just took a hit.
Vintage computer games and RPG books available. Email me if you're interested.
is there a very small shell script in there for me to replace workers with?
Shell scripts are wickedly cool. Much better than C, C++ or Java. Almost as cool as Ruby!
No one expects you to comment your shell scripts. No one expects you to account for corner cases. If they don't work you can blame bash and insist they install ksh instead. And people won't think you're a real programmer, so they won't assign that nasty driver bug to you. And you can obfuscate them almost as much as Perl!
Don't blame me, I didn't vote for either of them!
Hey, that runs in my Perl interpreter, too!
I remember when legal used to mean lawful, now it means some kind of loophole. - Leo Kessler
Why settle for less, if you can settle on most?
Yeah, most's feature list is pretty impressive. And just look at the screenshots!!!
---------------------------------------------
SERENITY NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Any sufficiently advanced libertarian utopia is indistinguishable from government.
Path: mindspring!news.mindspring.net!cpk-news-hub1.bbnpl anet.com!news.bbnplanet.com!ais.net!logbridge.uore gon.edu!scanner.worldgate.com!rover.u
cs.ualberta.ca!aurora.cs.athabascau.ca!louis
From: louis@cs.athabascau.ca (Louis Schmittroth)
Newsgroups: comp.editors
Subject: Re: Coolest Vim feature
Date: 31 Dec 1997 17:21:07 GMT
Organization: Athabasca University
Lines: 22
Distribution: inet
Message-ID:
References:
NNTP-Posting-Host: aupair.cs.athabascau.ca
X-Newsreader: NN version 6.5.0 #10 (NOV)
roy lewis writes:
>well, you claim to know less, and i freely confess i know more. you
>know less, you like less, you prefer less, and the less there is of
>less, the less you like it, because the less there is of less the more
>it is more, and that less is better than more, because there is more
>to less, and more suffers due to it's lack of being less. if i
>understand you, more is less, but that more is less than less, because
>less has more to offer than more. in some moebus-like fashion, more
>suits you less, and less suits you more.
>well, i must yield to your knowledge of less, cling to my knowledge of
>more, and since you cling to less and spurn more, i must leave you to
>your fate, more or less.
I nominate you for the funniest post of the year in comp.editors.
Thanks.
--
Louis Schmittroth louis#cs.athabascau.ca
http://montana-vigilantes.org
NW 1/4 18 67 21 W4 Alberta.
Prevent email address forgery. Publish SPF records for y
alt.binaries.pictures.erotica :-D
This would make a great programming/scripting language:
./skriptizzl /bin/shizle detected a non rhyme stizzle in your shizzle. Line 10 son, check it out yo!
#/bin/shizle -yo
#declare a gangsta (variable) called slim
I'm a big ass gangsta and my name is slim
#link in the math pimp (library)
math pimp is in tow and don't you fsck with him
#initialize slim to the hos (linked list) 4,3,2,1
# this causes an error because there is no rhyme
4 and 3 and 2 and 1 now slim and his hos be comming for you
#open a shoutout (file)
Yo, here's a shoutout to the users out there
hey Andy (CR LF)
hey Amy (CR LF)
hey Ben (CR LF)
hey Zack (CR LF)
#exit with no error code
peace out
%
errah
JET Program: see Japan, meet intere