Frequently Asked Questions about Unix - with Answers [Monthly posting]

[drake at drake.almaden.ibm.com]

You know, it's things like this that let some folks believe UNIX is
cryptic and difficult to use.  Let's summarize the FAQs:

	8)  How do I find the name of an open file?

You CAN'T!

	11) How do I find out the creation time of a file?

You CAN'T!

	14) How do I {set an environment variable, change directory} inside a
	      program or shell script and have that change affect my
	      current shell?

You CAN'T!

	15) Why doesn't find's "{}" symbol do what I want?

BECAUSE!

	16) How do I redirect stdout and stderr separately in csh?

You CAN'T!

	17) How do I set the permissions on a symbolic link?

You CAN'T!

	21) How do I "undelete" a file?

You CAN'T!

	22) How can a process detect if it's running in the background?

You CAN'T!

	23) How can an executing program determine its own pathname?

You CAN'T!

	26) How do I use popen() to open a process for reading AND writing?

You CAN'T!

	27) How do I run 'passwd', 'ftp', 'telnet', 'tip' and other interactive
	      programs from a shell script or in the background?

You CAN'T!

	28) How do I sleep() in a C program for less than one second?
	29) How can I get setuid shell scripts to work?

Hopefully You CAN'T!

I guess it's useful to gather all our dirty laundry into a single monthly
posting ... but it's a rather sad thing to see.


Sam Drake / IBM Almaden Research Center 
Internet:  drake at ibm.com            BITNET:  DRAKE at ALMADEN
Usenet:    ...!uunet!ibmarc!drake   Phone:   (408) 927-1861