write (Unix)
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In Unix and Unix-like operating systems, write is a utility used to send messages to another user by writing a message directly to another user's TTY.[1]
History
The write command was included in the First Edition of the Research Unix operating system.[2]
The Orville implementation of write dates from 1985.[3]
Sample Usage
The syntax for the write command is:
$ write user [tty] message
The write session is terminated by sending EOF, which can be done by pressing Ctrl+D. The tty argument is only necessary when a user is logged into more than one terminal.
A conversation initiated between two users on the same machine:
$ write root pts/7 test
Will show up to the user on that console as:
Message from root@punch on pts/8 at 11:19 ... test
See also
- List of Unix programs
- talk command
- wall command
Footnotes
- ^ "write(1)". kernel.org. util-linux. March 1995. Archived from the original (man page) on 9 July 2016. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
- ^ Unix Programmer's Manual (PDF) (1st ed.). Bell Labs. 3 November 1971. p. write(1). Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 July 2016. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
- ^
Jan, Wolter (2004-09-28). "Orville Write Homepage". Archived from the original on 9 July 2016. Retrieved 2012-04-17.
Orville write is a reimplementation of the Unix write program adds many nice features while remaining close to the standard Unix program in spirit. It has been very heavily used on M-Net since 1985 and on Grex since 1991, as well as a few other systems.
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