Use this item to suggest and discuss OpenBSD binaries that would be helpful to grexers.36 responses total.
At sdf I often use antiword to convert WORD files sent me in email to plain text before download, and netpbm or cjpeg/djpeg to shrink jpegs (which people post direct from their camera, sometimes 5MB in size). pdftotext would also be helpful. xls2html (xlstohtml?). An rtf to html or text convertor. There was less need for these when we had 100K mail size limits, which rejected mail with large attachments.
Not sure if it's available for OpenBSD as a binary, but: sc (the Spreadsheet Calculator). A text-mode spreadsheet. I use it heavily on my Linux machine.
Is there any program here for calculating with? dc?
bc is better -- dc is a stack-based, which means to calculate and output two to the fourth you type "2 4 ^ p".
Do we have either one? I can handle 2 4 + p to get 6. I keep a little solar-powered calculator by my desk but I need to turn on the light to get it to power on.
Man bc : bc is a preprocessor for dc. Is this the same as a 'wrapper'?
I found lots of 2-letter programs in /usr/bin, including mg, a simple emacs type text editor. Ctrl-X Ctrl-C exits. Unlike pico, you can go to any line by specifying the number but I could not get into command mode to do that. I bet we also have joe, which comes with a help screen. Any other interesting programs I should try at grex?
I have been using cut, align and sort pretty often last few days.
EGGDROP!
Re #6: No. Bc *can be used* as a preprocessor for dc, and maybe bc even uses dc to do its calculations, but bc takes "2 ^ 3" and gives you 8. (The preprocessor thing is so that if you give bc an option it will output the commands to make dc execute the same operations rather than giving you the actual answer.)
emacs doesn't have a command mode. to jump to line 10 you type C-u 1 0 M-g (control-u, 10, meta-g).
If meta is one of those extra keys you find on newer keyboards (a second Alt or Ctrl) I don't have it.
If your keyboard doesn't have a meta- key you can use ESC instead. But on most keyboard mappings I believe the Alt- modifier key works as meta..
Emacs is not for the faint-hearted :) Learning X-emacs is exciting enough, but of course that involves a GUI and I'm sure keesan detests that :)
What other editor could I try besides pine and Joe which would let me move and delete one word at a time and go to the start and end of a file, rather than just move by one page at a time?
Vi. w goes to the beginning of the next word, e to the end of the word, b to the beginning of the word. Prefixing those with d deletes what the cursor would pass. To go to any line in the file, type its line number (the beginning is either 0 or 1, and omit it for the last line) and type G.
I'm surprised Sindi hasn't learned vi long before now, it seems like a natural match. It takes a bit of getting used to but it's amazingly powerful and efficient to use once you get used to it. And it's nowhere near as resource-intensive as emacs..
VI is still my favorite editor.
I have tried vi but it is confusing going in and out of command mode. e3 has some features that pico does not, including I think going to the end or beginning of a file.
Sindi, a cheat sheet is helpful for learning vi. After a few months, you won't need it any more.
I'd add that anybody seriously into Unix admin should learn vi, as it is the one editor you can always gurantee will be available on a unix box.
Re #13: If you use vim it will always show you what mode you're in.
if you put the following in your .emacs file ,you can use F2 key to go to a particular line (global-set-key [f2] 'goto-line )
In #22: er, I meant re #19.
Though, if you are a Unix admin, you should have the resources to easily install numerous other editors besides vi - nevertheless a nifty, lightweight, but powerful editor.
In some businesses, just going and installing software without asking can get your fired.
Joe has commands to move one word at a time and go to the start or end of a file. I should learn it. There is also a jpico mode with only a short help screen.
Like anything, once you've used vi for a while you get used to it. I can even imagine gtting used to Windoze. Yeurgh.
I got used to Windows by doing everything possible in a DOS window.
Unix administrators should also know 'ed'. When grex is booted off the boot cd, 'ed' is the only editor available. It's kind of minimalistic, though much more powerful than 'edlin' was.
re #30: really? no ex?
On Grex, the ex in /usr/local/bin is a symbolic link to vim, and the ex in /usr/bin is a hard link to vi. If there was ex, there would be vi.
re #32: Well, yes, ex and vi are always the same binary, but sometimes you don't have a terminal which supports the cursor addressability needed for visual mode..
If forced to, I can use ed. It would just take a little trial and error to remember the basic commands. Sort of like trying to remember some of the more esoteric commands in vi.
in general, both emacs and xemacs work just fine without a graphical display. if you have such a display and wish to avoid using it use the -nw option. since emacsen are mode-less there is a great deal of use of the control and meta (alt) keys, so a keyboard with them arranged for comfort is almost a necessity.
TROGG IS DAVID BLAINE
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