Wicked Cool Shell Scripts: 101 Scripts for Linux, Mac OS X, and Unix Systems

Dave Taylor

Jan 2004 · No Starch Press

About this ebook

The UNIX shell is the main scripting environment of every Linux, Mac OS X and UNIX system, whether a rescued laptop or a million-dollar mainframe. This cookbook of useful, customizable, and fun scripts gives you the tools to solve common Linux, Mac OS X and UNIX problems and personalize your computing environment. Among the more than 100 scripts included are an interactive calculator, a spell checker, a disk backup utility, a weather tracker, and a web logfile analysis tool. The book also teaches you how to write your own sophisticated shell scripts by explaining the syntax and techniques used to build each example scripts. Examples are written in Bourne Shell (sh) syntax.

About the author

Dave Taylor is a popular writer, teacher and speaker of business and technology issues. The founder of The Internet Mall and iTrack.com, he's been involved with UNIX and the Internet since 1980, having created the popular Elm Mail System. He's also been a Mac fan since the year it was released. Once a Research Scientist at HP Laboratories and Senior Reviews Editor of SunWorld magazine, Taylor has contributed software to the official 4.4 release of Berkeley Unix (BSD). His programs are found in all versions of Linux and other popular Unix variants.