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Best of Bash, Special Edition #57 - Digital Issue
New Tools for a Classic Interface – Pre-Order
Now
The
Bourne Again Shell (Bash) is the legendary command-line interface
used with most Linux and Unix Systems. This special edition includes
lesser-known utilities that
will help you work more efficiently and do more with fewer steps.
If
you’re looking for a way to expand and deepen your command-line
experience, get your copy of
Best of Bash today.
Want the print and digital issues? Order both, and you’ll save 50% on the digital edition.
SPECIAL OFFER: Buy Best of Bash and get 15% off the Linux Shell Handbook. Discount will be applied automatically at checkout.
The digital issue will be released in early July 2026.
IN THIS ISSUE:
New Spins
rename
The rename command
lets you simultaneously rename and move multiple files following a
given pattern.
lsd and eza
LSDeluxe and eza are
modern implementations of the ancient Unix ls command in the Rust
programming language.
zoxide
Zoxide, a modern
version of cd, lets you navigate long directory paths with less
typing.
Modern Searching
An update for the
find command, fd offers significant improvements with many
user-friendly options.
Modernizing
Commands
Many traditional
commands now have modern replacements. With tasksel, you can install
all of them in a single step.
System Admin
neofetch
Display information
about your hardware, operating system, and desktop in visually
appealing output.
Tiger
The revived Tiger
provides a comprehensive set of security audit and intrusion
detection tools.
Bash Web
Maintenance
Use tools such as
grep and sed to find and fix broken links.
Optimizing Linux
Performance
When you're tuning
up Linux performance, you'll need to keep an eye on a number of
components and parameters. We'll show you how to optimize performance
by tuning TCP/IP, reducing latency, and configuring NUMA-aware
systems. You'll also learn about CPU scheduling and memory management
tuning.
Topgrade
Detect all the
package managers installed on a system and execute them one by one at
the command line.
Docs and Text
pdfsandwich
Use this handy tool
to make your scanned PDF files zoomable and searchable.
pandoc
Create multiple
documents from a single source with this universal document
converter.
Printing in the
Shell
Why slow down for a
graphic management app when you can manage your printer with shell
commands?
Networking
Disposable VMs
Debvm lets you
quickly create a temporary virtual machine with a small memory
footprint, ideal for testing scripts or mixing repositories.
UFW Firewall
UFW takes the
complexity out of iptables, which is great for beginners and is even
good for experienced users who want to keep it simple and avoid
hidden mistakes.
Netcat and Socat
Netcat is the Swiss
army knife of networking for admins. Socat takes this principle one
step further, offering multiplexing, TLS-secured channels, pipes,
Unix sockets, and executables.
Data Tricks
VisiData
Manage, process, and
view tabular data from multiple sources.
datamash
This data processor
for your scripts makes long, complex calculations simple.
Xidel
Extract and process
data from XML, HTML, and JSON documents.
Bash Stats
With just one line
of Bash, you can use tools like AWK and gnuplot to quickly analyze
and plot your data.
Going Deeper
Advanced Shell
Scripting
Shell scripting is a
versatile tool for managing and automating the modern IT
infrastructure. We'll reach beyond the basics with some advanced
techniques for tackling real-world challenges.
Embedding Scripts
in Bash
Solve Bash blind
spots by embedding other scripting languages into your Bash scripts
to get the features you need. Pete shows you solutions for
floating-point math, charting, GUIs, and hardware integration.