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Every self respecting linux, mac os X or *nix user should have a solid handle on managing jobs in unix. The following will explain how to run tasks in the background, bring tasks to the foreground, background already running tasks and keeping a task running while logged out.
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du is the *nix command for disk usage. It tells you how much space everything in the given directory is taking up. GNU du introduced a handy option -h making it human readable, or showing sizes using K, M, G rather than bytes. Unfortunately this makes it not sortable numerically. Here’s how to sort du by size and keep it as human readable.
Luckily it’s 2009 and there have been a bunch of successful websites that have had to deal with large scalability challenges. Many have been kind enough to share their knowledge with the world. Here is a list of the best books, articles, presentations and practices from the likes of Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and more.
SSH is great and secure… Unless you need to automate it. Then it sucks because your only options are to create a passwordless key, or login add your key to ssh-agent, stay logged in forever. Here’s a quick guide to having the best of both worlds. A Secure SSH Connection that can be used in automated scripts. ( with the single catch, that upon reboot you need to re-enter your key’s password )
Despite living in the age of multicore processors, GUI everything and mountains of ram, I continually find myself more productive with a terminal open. Especially when that terminal is running GNU Screen.
Steve Francia is a technology and business executive, developer and innovator, currently serving as VP of Engineering at the OpenSky Project.
He has held positions at all levels including Developer, Sys Admin, DBA, Lead Developer, Architect, VP, CTO, COO and CIO.
The author of spf13.com, a blog on development, leadership and social media which is syndicated on All Top and has been featured in prominent industry publications including CIO Magazine.
A key contributor to and founding developer of the Zoop Framework, a popular framework for PHP and is big on contributing to the open source community.
When not working, developing or blogging Steve can be found spending time with his family, working on his home or playing sports.
[The opinions expressed here are mine alone, and not those of my employer.]
