Exploring the Linux command line reveals a universe of powerful utilities, many of which are often overlooked in favor of the more common commands. Mastering even a few less-known tools can significantly boost your productivity and efficiency, whether you’re managing files, monitoring system processes, or performing complex calculations. This dive into the command line uncovers some of these valuable gems that can streamline your daily tasks and introduce you to new ways of interacting with your system.
One incredibly useful command for quickly locating files is locate. Unlike find, which searches the filesystem in real-time, locate queries a pre-built database, making it much faster for general file searches across your system. While the database needs occasional updating (often done automatically), for quick searches of commonly found files, it’s an essential utility.
For those who frequently perform calculations but find graphical calculators cumbersome or slow to launch, the bc command (short for basic calculator) is a robust command-line option. It handles arbitrary precision arithmetic, different number bases, and even basic programming constructs, making it far more powerful than simple shell arithmetic for complex calculations directly in your terminal.
Visualizing directory structures can be tricky with just ls. The tree command solves this by displaying directories and files in a clear, indented tree format. This provides an intuitive hierarchical view of your file system layout, making it easier to navigate and understand the structure of projects or system directories.
Monitoring the output of a command that changes over time is a common need, and watch is the perfect tool for this. It repeatedly runs a specified command, displaying its output fullscreen and updating it at regular intervals. This is invaluable for watching log files, monitoring system load with uptime or free, or tracking process status without manually rerunning the command repeatedly.
Simplifying secure remote access is critical. The ssh-copy-id command makes it incredibly easy to copy your public SSH key to a remote server. This allows for passwordless authentication via SSH, a must-have for scripting automated tasks, using tools like rsync or scp without password prompts, and generally enhancing the convenience and security of your remote connections.
For long-running tasks or managing multiple terminal sessions, screen is an invaluable terminal multiplexer. It allows you to start a session, run commands within it, and then ‘detach’ from the session while the commands continue to run in the background. You can later ‘reattach’ from the same or a different terminal. This capability is a game-changer for maintaining remote sessions over potentially unstable network connections or managing multiple command-line applications within a single terminal window.
Exploring these and other less-publicized commands can significantly transform your workflow and deepen your understanding of the capabilities available directly from the Linux terminal. Each discovery unlocks new possibilities for efficient system interaction and management.
Source: https://www.tecmint.com/10-lesser-known-useful-linux-commands-part-v/
