Unix as a Second Language

Sandra Henry-Stocker has been administering Unix systems for more than 25 years. She describes herself as "USL" (Unix as a second language) but remembers enough English to write books and buy groceries. She currently works for TeleCommunication Systems -- a company that builds innovative technologies to make critical connections happen -- where no one else necessarily shares any of her opinions. This blog offers advice for everyday Unix systems administration and some clever ways to approach more challenging problems. Send comments and suggestions to mailto:bugfarm@gmail.com.

by Sandra Henry-Stocker

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Sandra Henry-Stocker has been administering Unix systems for more than 25 years. She describes herself as "USL" (Unix as a second language) but remembers enough English to write books and buy groceries. She currently works for TeleCommunication Systems -- a company that builds innovative technologies to make critical connections happen -- where no one else necessarily shares any of her opinions. Send comments and suggestions to bugfarm@gmail.com.

Grappling with disk space

Posted Sep 24, 2008 - 03:30 pm

Disks are getting bigger and bigger, but so are our users' data collections. How do you quickly pin down the source of the problem when a file system suddenly fills up? Let's look at some useful commands.
Favorite Unix Tools & Commands

Posted Sep 16, 2008 - 04:00 pm

After 25 years of a love affair with Unix, I still appreciate the many little commands and tricks that make me feel clever on the command line.
Port Forwarding with Perl

Posted Sep 10, 2008 - 06:00 am

SSH tunnels aren't the only way to do port forwarding. If you're clever enough, you can write your own program. If you're not quite that clever, you can use someone else's program -- like a very cool Perl script I found on the web.
Replacing the DVD in My G4

Posted Sep 04, 2008 - 06:40 pm

Replacing a failed DVD drive in a Mac G4 takes only a few tools and a few tricks. Here's how I muddled my way through to a working system.
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- Hardware, DVD replacement, Mac G4
Port forwarding

Posted Aug 26, 2008 - 01:43 pm

Port forwarding can get you around some sticky network restrictions and is easy to set up with ssh. Let's look at what it is and how it works with a simple example that you can try on your own systems.
Connection testing with Perl

Posted Aug 21, 2008 - 05:11 pm

If you've never used the Perl Sockets module for basic connection testing, you might be surprised at how easily you can craft a very useful script. I find my version of a Perl "listen" script to be as useful as a cable tester!
Ubuntu for Non-Geeks, 3rd Edition

Posted Aug 15, 2008 - 12:02 pm

Getting your friends and family to try Linux just got a lot easier. With the 3rd edition of Ubuntu for Non-Geeks and a desktop with spiffy visual effects, they might become easy converts!
Long listings for the ps command

Posted Aug 07, 2008 - 12:15 pm

If you've ever been frustrated by ps output that is truncated at the edge of your 80-column terminal window, let's take a look at the options that various Unix systems provide for showing you what you really want to see.
Unix and long usernames

Posted Jul 30, 2008 - 07:20 pm

Working around problems caused by usernames with more than eight characters is generally easy, but isn't it time we stop having to abide by limitations created 40 years ago?
Setting up a proxy web server with Apache

Posted Jul 24, 2008 - 11:59 am

Setting up a forward web proxy with Apache involves a very simple and quick procedure. From start to finish, it should take you roughly half an hour. Let's examine the process step by step.
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- Internet, Apache, installation

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