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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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Which Linux tool or command is surprisingly simple, powerful, and yet underrated?" (lemmy.ml)

submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Which Linux command or utility is simple, powerful, and surprisingly unknown to many people or used less often?

This could be a command or a piece of software or an application.

For example I'm surprised to find that many people are unaware of Caddy, a very simple web server that can make setting up a reverse proxy incredibly easy.

Another example is fzf. Many people overlook this, a fast command-line fuzzy finder. It’s versatile for searching files, directories, or even shell history with minimal effort.

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[–] [email protected] 38 points 1 month ago (18 children)

I'm a big fan of screen because it will let me run long-running processes without having to stay connected via SSH, and will log all the output.

I do a lot of work on customers' servers and having a full record of everything that happened is incredibly valuable for CYA purposes.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 month ago (7 children)

I'd recommend tmux for that particular use. Screen has a lot of extras that are interesting but don't really follow the GNU mentality of "do one thing and do it well."

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago (5 children)

When tmux was first released I was already so used to screen that I never really considered switching. What would some convincing arguments be for me to make the effort to switch now?

[–] kablammy 0 points 1 month ago

This was a few years ago so maybe it has improved, but I found that screen would crash and lose my session history and layout too often. That was bad enough, but when it happened it had some bullshit error message about a dungeon roof falling in. I don't mind some comedy in code or even the interface, but don't make light of the user losing their stuff. I tried tmux and it is much more stable than screen was.

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