Episode 85 - Command Line Fun

[Chess]

In this episode: a new Linux podcast called Linux Basement; a discussion of various fun command line topics, including how to use a different interactive shell, such as Zsh (more information here and here), a look at the great mail user agent, Mutt, and combining Irssi with Bip for text-based IRC (great article here); a Listener Tip on creating desktop launchers.

http://www.linuxreality.com/podcast/episode-85-command-line-fun/

[Claudio]

Oooohh yes!  Looking forward to listening to this episode.

I'll also be checking out that Linux Basement podcast.  The more Linux, the better!

[Wofl]

sweet, something i can always use!

great topic

[davijordan]

This is an awesome podcast, I love the cli. Thanx for the tips!

The linux basement podcast is going to be another tool in the arsenal. I can not wait to learn more about drupal.

[Datalanche]

Very interesting topic! I've always stuck with bash, but after hearing some of the neat things you can do with others, I'll give them a go sometime.

I don't think we have to worry about the command line going away, simply by design. Personally, as much as I love how GUI Linux is coming along, the command line is just faster and more effectient for certain tasks. It also helps when X gets hosed!

[thelastknowngod]

yeah this was a really good episode. as linux gets more and more gui-fied i find myself getting more and more fascinated by the terminal.

[torerling]

Very interesting topic! I've always stuck with bash, but after hearing some of the neat things you can do with others, I'll give them a go sometime.

I don't think we have to worry about the command line going away, simply by design. Personally, as much as I love how GUI Linux is coming along, the command line is just faster and more effectient for certain tasks. It also helps when X gets hosed!

like mine did today, I didn't think x was supposed to break in gutsy.. but it did, yaya, managed to get it up again in about 5 minutes by replacing my x with a backup and reinstall my nVidia drivers though

[bluepass]

Here's a clip I found of the ZSH. For those of you unable to understand what Chess is really talking about that video should explain it. It is very neat. I can't believe I didn't try it out yet. I've heard about it in the past, but never knew about this feature.

I kinda wonder how it works now though. How is it able to know the available parameters/flags for different tools? Is it using the man-pages? Anyone have any idea (without any research, because I could do that myself)? 

[Sebulba]

I tried Linux Basement, very nice apart from the cringeworthy music. When he said he played guitar I expected something more, but maybe I'm just judging it by my own playing and others I've played with over the years.....having said that, it's not a guitar podcast, it's a Linux podcast, and for that it's great.....it's also easy to just stop the file as soon as the music starts.

Like many things, taste in music is very subjective.

[Chess]

Here's a clip I found of the ZSH. For those of you unable to understand what Chess is really talking about that video should explain it. It is very neat. I can't believe I didn't try it out yet. I've heard about it in the past, but never knew about this feature.

I kinda wonder how it works now though. How is it able to know the available parameters/flags for different tools? Is it using the man-pages? Anyone have any idea (without any research, because I could do that myself)? 

Hey, thanks for posting that Bluepass.  That video does a MUCH better job of explaining Zsh's completion than I could ever do.  If anyone is confused by my terrible explanation, please check out this video.  It's great stuff.

I do believe it uses the man pages to display the options for commands, which is totally cool, don't you think?  Zsh is really, really cool stuff.

[bluepass]

Yeah, I agree. But in this case you depend on the man pages. If they don't get installed with the app you're in trouble. Either way, it's still a cool shell. I'm definitely going to give it a try.

[mjjzf]

That is a brilliant comment. I was using the Windows box at the office, and I had some trouble. It suddenly struck me how well-documented Linux and the BSDs are - the man pages. I really came up short.

[ast64]

Here's a clip I found of the ZSH. For those of you unable to understand what Chess is really talking about that video should explain it. It is very neat. I can't believe I didn't try it out yet. I've heard about it in the past, but never knew about this feature...

Yes, ZSH is great!
Please take a look at http://www.michael-prokop.at/computer/config/.zshrc

Greetings from Germany
ast64

[bluepass]

That is a brilliant comment. I was using the Windows box at the office, and I had some trouble. It suddenly struck me how well-documented Linux and the BSDs are - the man pages. I really came up short.

It's one of the reasons I do most of my work under Linux. Well documented, stable and no blocked features.

[CAPLinux]

Chess, I really enjoyed your podcast on the Command Line.  I really enjoyed hearing about MUTT.  When  I was in college, and learning COBOL programing we used PINE for our email.  I found Alpine and installed it on my Ubuntu 7.10 laptop.  What Fun!! it took me all of 5 minutes to get it working with GMail.

Keep up the great work!!