[sf-lug] FWIW and :r! dig -t

Thu Oct 25 10:25:58 PDT 2007

>:r! grep alias .bashrc
>
>    # enable color support of ls and also add handy aliases
>    alias ls='ls --color=auto'
>   #alias dir='ls --color=auto --format=vertical'
>    #alias vdir='ls --color=auto --format=long'
>    # some more ls aliases
>    alias ll='ls -l'
>    alias la='ls -A'
>    alias l='ls -CF'
>
>So, you could add one saying 
>
>    alias vi='/usr/bin/vim' 

Thanks Rick... Doing a grep alias is a good way of remembering how to do
aliases in the first place, the lack of which caused me to not use it
earlier. 

-----Original Message-----
From: sf-lug-bounces at linuxmafia.com [mailto:sf-lug-bounces at linuxmafia.com]
On Behalf Of sf-lug-request at linuxmafia.com
Sent: Wednesday, October 24, 2007 11:20 PM
To: sf-lug at linuxmafia.com
Subject: sf-lug Digest, Vol 23, Issue 52

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When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than
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Today's Topics:

   1. Re: FWIW and :r! dig -t ns sf-lug.com (Tomer)
   2. Re: old processors and kernel optimization for them
      (continuation of questions re ThinkPad P266 (bobbie sellers)
   3. Re: sf-lug Digest, Vol 23, Issue 49 (Rick Moen)
   4. Re: FWIW and :r! dig -t ns sf-lug.com (Rick Moen)
   5. Re: sf-lug Digest, Vol 23, Issue 49 (Asheesh Laroia)
   6. Re: virtual console switching, X, etc. (Michael Paoli)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2007 20:19:40 -0700
From: "Tomer" <tomer at pacbell.net>
Subject: Re: [sf-lug] FWIW and :r! dig -t ns sf-lug.com
To: <sf-lug at linuxmafia.com>
Message-ID: <019d01c816b5$e19fff70$230a0a0a at TOMERDEVXEON>
Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="US-ASCII"

Ok now Im interested in seeing what :r actually does. Havent used it
recently. I love vim by the way. I just hate how in ubunutu even though I go

mv /usr/bin/vi /usr/bin/viNOUSE
ln /usr/bin/vim /usr/bin/vi

And then go
vi <something>

I still get the old vi behaviour, instead of vim .. I must be missing
something

-----Original Message-----
From: sf-lug-bounces at linuxmafia.com [mailto:sf-lug-bounces at linuxmafia.com]
On Behalf Of sf-lug-request at linuxmafia.com
Sent: Wednesday, October 24, 2007 8:03 PM
To: sf-lug at linuxmafia.com
Subject: sf-lug Digest, Vol 23, Issue 50

Send sf-lug mailing list submissions to
	sf-lug at linuxmafia.com

To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World-Wide Web, visit
	http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug
or, via e-mail, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
	sf-lug-request at linuxmafia.com

You can reach the person managing the list at
	sf-lug-owner at linuxmafia.com

When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than
"Re: Contents of sf-lug digest..."

Today's Topics:

   1. Re: FWIW and :r! dig -t ns sf-lug.com (Christian Einfeldt)
   2. Re: FWIW and :r! dig -t ns sf-lug.com (Asheesh Laroia)
   3. Re: FWIW and :r! dig -t ns sf-lug.com (Rick Moen)
   4. Re: FWIW and :r! dig -t ns sf-lug.com (Christian Einfeldt)
   5. Re: FWIW and :r! dig -t ns sf-lug.com (Christian Einfeldt)
   6. Re: FWIW and :r! dig -t ns sf-lug.com (Rick Moen)
   7. Re: FWIW and :r! dig -t ns sf-lug.com (Christian Einfeldt)
   8. Re: FWIW and :r! dig -t ns sf-lug.com (Christian Einfeldt)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2007 19:26:09 -0700
From: "Christian Einfeldt" <einfeldt at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [sf-lug] FWIW and :r! dig -t ns sf-lug.com
To: "Rick Moen" <rick at linuxmafia.com>
Cc: sf-lug at linuxmafia.com,	Daniel Gimpelevich
	<daniel at gimpelevich.san-francisco.ca.us>,	Alex Kleider
	<a_kleider at yahoo.com>
Message-ID:
	<4b5781040710241926q50a425fq6d7cacf44beddf49 at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

On 10/24/07, Christian Einfeldt <einfeldt at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Hi Alex,
>
> On 10/24/07, Rick Moen <rick at linuxmafia.com> wrote:
> >
> >
> > > and
> > > what is ment by
> > > :r!
> > > ????
> >
> > Meaningful to anyone who knows the "vi" editor.  ;->
> >
>
>
Alex, the other thing that was funny about Rick's reference is that he was
making a reference to a text editor that he was using, which is often times
a point of contention, because everyone has their favorite text editors.
And so if you make a vi joke, you are sort of tweaking the noses of people
who don't use vi.  So it was also sort of a follow-up joke, in a way, to
Rick's recent joke about bashing text editors as a way of achieving a
"trifecta", meaning poking fun at each other's operating systems and desktop
environments and text editors.  As you get to know people in the Linux world
more, you will have more fun with the jokes, because they are actually
funny, in part, because they are so arcane.  I mean, how funny is it that
people bash each others' text editors!!  It's a joke on a joke.  It's funny
for its own reasons, but it is also funny because here are these code
wizards poking fun at each other for things that, for most people, don't
even hit their radar screens.
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Message: 2
Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2007 19:26:46 -0700 (PDT)
From: Asheesh Laroia <asheesh at asheesh.org>
Subject: Re: [sf-lug] FWIW and :r! dig -t ns sf-lug.com
To: Christian Einfeldt <einfeldt at gmail.com>
Cc: sf-lug at linuxmafia.com, Alex Kleider <a_kleider at yahoo.com>,	Daniel
	Gimpelevich <daniel at gimpelevich.san-francisco.ca.us>
Message-ID:
	<alpine.DEB.0.9999.0710241924000.23137 at dell.linuxdev.us.dell.com>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; format=flowed; charset=US-ASCII

On Wed, 24 Oct 2007, Christian Einfeldt wrote:

> In other words, the power of vi is that it lets you solve really deep 
> problems when all of the GNOME programs are just too locked up to 
> solve the problems.  The other thing that is powerful about vi is that 
> it is useful with all or nearly all Linux programs.  Once you learn 
> it, you don't have to worry about what you are going to do if your X 
> quits
or locks.
>
> Learning vi is really hard, though.  I tried a little bit, and it 
> really kicked my ass.  heh.

The first time I ran vi, I couldn't figure out how to quit.  So I rebooted.
(I'm not joking.)

I recommend nano for general text editing - it has syntax highlighting and
search and replace (with regular expressions, if you're into those) - but it
also always gives you context-sensitive help at the bottom of the screen so
that you know what you can do.  That way, you can never forget how to use it
- you just end up using it slower while you look through the options.

Just be *sure* to disable word-wrap mode when you run it if editing config
files.  That's "nano -w".

vi does have a geek machoness associated with it, but I get enough geek
machoness from other parts of my life. (-;

-- Asheesh.

--
character density, n.:
 	The number of very weird people in the office.

------------------------------

Message: 3
Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2007 19:29:59 -0700
From: Rick Moen <rick at linuxmafia.com>
Subject: Re: [sf-lug] FWIW and :r! dig -t ns sf-lug.com
To: sf-lug at linuxmafia.com
Message-ID: <20071025022959.GJ26420 at linuxmafia.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

Quoting Christian Einfeldt (einfeldt at gmail.com):

> Learning vi is really hard, though.  

"vimtutor" is your friend.

Until then, think of it as "vi vi vi, the editor of the Beast."

------------------------------

Message: 4
Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2007 19:38:35 -0700
From: "Christian Einfeldt" <einfeldt at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [sf-lug] FWIW and :r! dig -t ns sf-lug.com
To: "Asheesh Laroia" <asheesh at asheesh.org>
Cc: sf-lug at linuxmafia.com, Alex Kleider <a_kleider at yahoo.com>,	Daniel
	Gimpelevich <daniel at gimpelevich.san-francisco.ca.us>
Message-ID:
	<4b5781040710241938r45363bbdv2d17be8d01d510c9 at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

>
> vi does have a geek machoness associated with it, but I get enough 
> geek machoness from other parts of my life. (-;
>

At the most recent sv-lug installfest at Google, Bruce Costen joked that you
are not a real man until you write in binary.  I wouldn't know, still being
a grasshopper, myself.  But Bruce does have at least 16 OSes installed on
each of his boxes at any one time, so who am I to disagree with such a
man!   ;-)
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Message: 5
Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2007 19:34:19 -0700
From: "Christian Einfeldt" <einfeldt at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [sf-lug] FWIW and :r! dig -t ns sf-lug.com
To: "Rick Moen" <rick at linuxmafia.com>
Cc: sf-lug at linuxmafia.com
Message-ID:
	<4b5781040710241934r3c791b2ajeb63898cfed0e25b at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

On 10/24/07, Rick Moen <rick at linuxmafia.com> wrote:
>
> Quoting Christian Einfeldt (einfeldt at gmail.com):
>
> > Learning vi is really hard, though.
>
> "vimtutor" is your friend.
>
> Until then, think of it as "vi vi vi, the editor of the Beast."
>

snicker
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Message: 6
Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2007 19:41:33 -0700
From: Rick Moen <rick at linuxmafia.com>
Subject: Re: [sf-lug] FWIW and :r! dig -t ns sf-lug.com
To: sf-lug at linuxmafia.com
Message-ID: <20071025024133.GK26420 at linuxmafia.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

Quoting Christian Einfeldt (einfeldt at gmail.com):

> Alex, the other thing that was funny about Rick's reference is that he 
> was making a reference to a text editor that he was using, which is 
> often times a point of contention, because everyone has their favorite
text editors.
> And so if you make a vi joke, you are sort of tweaking the noses of 
> people who don't use vi.

Thing is, everyone on *ix traditionally encounters vi.  

They may hate it, and quickly run screaming to pico^Wnano^Wnedit^Wkate, but,
before they do, they inevitably see enough of it to figure out from context
that ":" enters a command mode.  (If that's untrue of some people here, then
I guess they're likely to miss some jokes.  Oh well.
Sic Transit Gloria Jargon File.)

Just as it shouldn't be _that_ difficult to figure out what
"victim^Wcustomer" means without someone requiring someone to diagram the
joke for you.

And mentioning an editor command that can be fairly easily figured out from
context is nothing at all like indulging in dumbass flamewars about other
people's text editors.

> I mean, how funny is it that people bash each others' text editors!

If done other than with extremely ironic intent, I'd call that more than a
bit sad.

------------------------------

Message: 7
Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2007 19:36:07 -0700
From: "Christian Einfeldt" <einfeldt at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [sf-lug] FWIW and :r! dig -t ns sf-lug.com
To: "Asheesh Laroia" <asheesh at asheesh.org>
Cc: sf-lug at linuxmafia.com, Alex Kleider <a_kleider at yahoo.com>,	Daniel
	Gimpelevich <daniel at gimpelevich.san-francisco.ca.us>
Message-ID:
	<4b5781040710241936h7c3ee312v5a7415bc75073913 at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

hi

On 10/24/07, Asheesh Laroia <asheesh at asheesh.org> wrote:
>
>
> The first time I ran vi, I couldn't figure out how to quit.  So I 
> rebooted.  (I'm not joking.)

LOL !

I recommend nano for general text editing -

See, Alex, here we go!!!  LOL !  These sys admins have their own text editor
stories to tell!!  LOL !  You gotta appreciate the humor in the fact that
people have really well-defined opinions about something which, to the
outside world, looks rather bland and arcane (text editors).  But I can
totally see this thread going on for another 10 posts, at least!  So now,
here comes Rick Moen and compares vi to a magic sword.  Ya gotta love this
stuff.  Worth price of admission alone.    ;-)

>
> vi does have a geek machoness associated with it, but I get enough 
> geek machoness from other parts of my life. (-;

And so it goes.   heh
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Message: 8
Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2007 19:55:48 -0700
From: "Christian Einfeldt" <einfeldt at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [sf-lug] FWIW and :r! dig -t ns sf-lug.com
To: "Rick Moen" <rick at linuxmafia.com>
Cc: sf-lug at linuxmafia.com
Message-ID:
	<4b5781040710241955o16818249w4190431637ec9780 at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

hi

On 10/24/07, Rick Moen <rick at linuxmafia.com> wrote:
>
> (If that's untrue of some
> people here, then I guess they're likely to miss some jokes.
>

No, that is the benefit of being on a list like this.  You learn from
osmosis.

And mentioning an editor command that can be fairly easily figured out
> from context is nothing at all like indulging in dumbass flamewars 
> about other people's text editors.

Well, except that I find that it is a entertaining.  I get great tech
support from the people on the list, but at the same time, I am also
entertained at how incredibly arcane the jokes are.

> I mean, how funny is it that people bash each others' text editors!
>
> If done other than with extremely ironic intent, I'd call that more 
> than a bit sad.

This was not intended as a dig, but as a compliment.  What I meant was that
it is funny that people are having disagreements about arcane topics.  For
me, as a newbie, it is sometimes a bit like watching elephants wrestle: it's
a huge spectacle, and best observed from the sidelines.  No offense
intended.  My apologies if you were offended, because it was actually
intended as a compliment and a nod to your accomplishment with vi, because I
know how hard it is to use vi.
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End of sf-lug Digest, Vol 23, Issue 50
**************************************

------------------------------

Message: 2
Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2007 20:29:55 -0700
From: bobbie sellers <bliss at california.com>
Subject: Re: [sf-lug] old processors and kernel optimization for them
	(continuation of questions re ThinkPad P266
To: San Francisco Linux Users Group <sf-lug at linuxmafia.com>
Message-ID: <yam10888.2774.140734528 at mail.california.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=AmigaPL

Hi Alex Kleider, on 10/25/07, you wrote:

> Rick:
> You've been great helping me and again I'm very gratefull. A few 
> follow up comments and questions if I may. I did open the "back door" 
> to the "SODIMM" bays and have had the memory out for inspection. 
> Trying to count the number of contacts was a serious test of my 
> vision! We have new maxed out "sticks" on their way for $17 each so it 
> is being done as you advised.
> (savings of ~$150 compared to the computer shop, I thought the shop 
> would be more expensive but never dreamed it would be that much of a 
> ripoff) I now understand perfectly about the kernel chick&egg problem. 
> You mention that Mandriva as an example of a distro that is 
> downloadable in both i586 (what I'd need) as well as i686 versions. 
> I'll check out if I can find such a download. If there are others of 
> which you know please mention them. (always good to have a backup.) I 
> have yet to try what you suggested (locate plugins +/- updatedb)to get 
> flashplayer
> installed: hope to get to it soon. Thanks again, Rick

> alex at kleider.net

    I have Mandriva 2007.1 install DVD.  Before too long I may have the ISO
for the 2008 CDs.  I also have the CD ISOs for 2006 which isn't too shabby.
If you think this may be of help let me know.  I won't be picking up e-mail
after 2100 this evening though until after 0800 tomorrow
    later
    Bobbie Sellers

--
 bobbie sellers - (Back to Angband) Team *AMIGA & SF-LUG* 
           bliss at california dot com

    Cthulhu for President -- for when you're tired of choosing the lesser_
of the two evils.

------------------------------

Message: 3
Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2007 20:30:58 -0700
From: Rick Moen <rick at linuxmafia.com>
Subject: Re: [sf-lug] sf-lug Digest, Vol 23, Issue 49
To: sf-lug at linuxmafia.com
Message-ID: <20071025033058.GI4816 at linuxmafia.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

Quoting Alex Kleider (a_kleider at yahoo.com):

> And, yes, I have come to enjoy the humour (notice the "Queen's English
> spelling) beginning with the GNU recursive acronym.

Christian claimed at Saturday's installfest that I write like an
Englishman, too.  But it's American, honest!  I can prove it:
http://linuxmafia.com/~rick/faq/index.php?page=misc#english

------------------------------

Message: 4
Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2007 21:00:54 -0700
From: Rick Moen <rick at linuxmafia.com>
Subject: Re: [sf-lug] FWIW and :r! dig -t ns sf-lug.com
To: sf-lug at linuxmafia.com
Message-ID: <20071025040054.GJ4816 at linuxmafia.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

Quoting Tomer (tomer at pacbell.net):

> I love vim by the way. I just hate how in ubunutu even though I go
> 
> mv /usr/bin/vi /usr/bin/viNOUSE
> ln /usr/bin/vim /usr/bin/vi

Hmm, you really shouldn't.  More about that below.

> And then go 
> vi <something>
> 
> I still get the old vi behaviour, instead of vim .. I must be missing
> something

Do you mean, when you're in the initial command mode, and you type "i",
you don't see "-- INSERT --" in the left-hand corner?

If you don't, try this vi command:

:set nocp

(Press Return.)

That's "set no compatibility mode".  Compatibility mode is where vim
emulates nvi as closely as it can, including no "-- INSERT --" or 
"-- REPLACE --" indicators.

If "set nocp <return>" and then "i" doesn't turn on the "-- INSERT --" 
indicator, then it's not vim you're running, but rather probably
nvi.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.  
<eyeing Asheesh, and backing away slowly>

If that _does_ enable the indicators, then it may be just a matter of
vim detecting the fact that it was running with binary name "vi" and 
deciding that it should run in compatilbity mode.  Which points out one 
possible snag with your approach.

Anyhow, the *buntu family (Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Gubuntu, Edubuntu, Xubuntu,
Fluxbuntu, etc.) inherit from Debian a mechanism called "alternatives".
You'll note in /etc/alternatives a big long set of symbolic links --
and nothing but symbolic links.  E.g., on the Debian box I'm sending
this from:

:r! ls -l /etc/alternatives/vi

lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 12 2006-03-05 18:33 /etc/alternatives/vi ->
/usr/bin/vim

So, "/etc/alternatives/vi" is a symbolic link pointing to /usr/bin/vim
-- at the moment.  And, /usr/bin/vi is...

:r! ls -l /usr/bin/vi

lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 20 2006-03-05 18:33 /usr/bin/vi ->
/etc/alternatives/vi

...a symbolic link pointing to /etc/alternatives/vi .  So, if I type
"vi" at the command prompt, that invokes 

    /usr/bin/vi -> /etc/alternatives/vi -> /usr/bin/vim

Debian (and thus also *buntu) provides a tool for determining _which_ 
vi /etc/alternatives/vi points to.  It's called "update-alternatives",
should be run by the root user (using sudo, on *buntu), and has quite a
few options.  On my Debian system:

# update-alternatives --list vi
/usr/bin/vim

In other words, I have only the one implementation of vi (vim)
installed, and not, e.g., the elvis or nvi implementations.  But I could
have all three, and use "update-alternatives --config" to pick, at any
given time, which one becomes the default vi that is invoked if the user
merely says "vi".

But, also, if you're trying to specify which vi just _your_ login will
run by default, and are not trying to alter what other users will get,
then you shouldn't touch the system files at all, and instead should 
use something like a bash alias in your ~/.bashrc file:

:r! grep alias .bashrc

    # enable color support of ls and also add handy aliases
    alias ls='ls --color=auto'
    #alias dir='ls --color=auto --format=vertical'
    #alias vdir='ls --color=auto --format=long'
    # some more ls aliases
    alias ll='ls -l'
    alias la='ls -A'
    alias l='ls -CF'

So, you could add one saying 

    alias vi='/usr/bin/vim'

------------------------------

Message: 5
Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2007 21:12:30 -0700 (PDT)
From: Asheesh Laroia <asheesh at asheesh.org>
Subject: Re: [sf-lug] sf-lug Digest, Vol 23, Issue 49
To: sf-lug at linuxmafia.com
Message-ID: <alpine.DEB.0.9999.0710242108571.8943 at alchemy.localdomain>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed

On Wed, 24 Oct 2007, Alex Kleider wrote:

> Oh, and one other thing: trying to install jpilot- that was successful 
> but when trying to syc with the device I get an error because of 
> inability to find /dev/pilot.  What to do?

Depends - where's your pilot!?

Tell jpilot to look in /dev/ttyUSB0 or /dev/ttyUSB1 if it's USB.  If it's 
serial try /dev/ttyS0 or /dev/ttyS1.  It should be one of those four 
options.

(I'm pretty sure that more modern distros handle this for you.)

Also, please don't quote the whole digest!  What a drag to snip that much 
text.

-- Asheesh.

--
AMAZING BUT TRUE ...
 	If all the salmon caught in Canada in one year were laid end to end
 	across the Sahara Desert, the smell would be absolutely awful.

------------------------------

Message: 6
Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2007 23:19:20 -0700
From: Michael Paoli <Michael.Paoli at cal.berkeley.edu>
Subject: Re: [sf-lug] virtual console switching, X, etc.
To: sf-lug at linuxmafia.com
Message-ID: <1193293160.472035682fe50 at webmail.rawbw.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

> Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2007 19:19:21 -0700
> From: "Christian Einfeldt" <einfeldt at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [sf-lug] FWIW and :r! dig -t ns sf-lug.com
> 
> A
> virtual shell is important, because sometimes the eye candy that runs on
> top
> of Linux can get goobered up and locked and stalled, but Linux is still
> humming away happily underneath.  If your keyboard is responsive,
sometimes
> you can get rid of the programs that are causing your computer to freeze
> up,
> without having to reboot the computer, which is a really useful tool.
> 
> So try depressing your cntrl and alt keys at the same time, and then touch
> the F3 key.  Your screen will go black, and you will get the virtual
shell.

Actually, that's virtual console, not virtual shell.  LINUX supports
multiple (up to 63) virtual consoles, and the ability to switch among
them.  Precisely how many virtual consoles are present and enabled,
and how they're configured (e.g. text mode, or X) will vary depending
upon kernel and its configuration, and specific Linux distribution,
configuration, and run level.  Most distributions will typically
enable text login on tty1, typically X on tty5 or tty7 (at least if X
is enabled and active).

E.g. on my home systems I typically have tty1-tty4 and tty8-tty12
enabled for text login, tty5-tty7 for X login, and typically use tty8
for random stuff I may want to launch via startx (e.g.:
$ startx -- :3 &
) or where I want to dump stuff out to text (virtual) console that's
otherwise available and not in use ... but that configuration isn't
exactly my distribution's default configuration.

One can generally switch among the virtual consoles by using
Control-Alt-Fn
where Fn is one of the F1 through F12 function keys
(at last for up to the first 12 virtual consoles).
One can often just do:
Alt-Fn
instead, but that doesn't work in some/many cases (e.g. various X
window managers or applications within X may often bind various
Alt-Fn combinations to specific functions of the application or
window manager).

Note that if the display/keyboard gets sufficiently hosed (e.g. via
X), it may still not be possible to switch virtual consoles via
Control-Alt-Fn
even though the OS is still running and responsive.  Stopping and
restarting the X server may suffice in such cases, e.g.
try Control-Alt-Backspace to kill the X server
or if even that doesn't work, login remotely (if you can) and stop and
restart the X server (I had to do that about once or twice in the past
few months).
:.r !uptime
 22:59:00 up 76 days, 23:25, 19 users,  load average: 1.00, 1.01, 1.03
(and that's my personal *laptop* ... okay, so it doesn't travel all
that much) Some/many distributions also, by default, bind
Control-Alt-Delete to do an orderly shutdown of the system - which is
still a bit better than doing a hard reset or simply removing or
cycling power.

references:
console(4)
vi(1)
uptime(1)

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End of sf-lug Digest, Vol 23, Issue 52
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