[ubuntu-uk] ubuntu-uk Digest, Vol 103, Issue 2

[Steven Roberts]

>
> On 5 November 2013 17:18, Steven Roberts <cwmbranmathstutor at gmail.com
> >wrote:
>
> > I just discovered that, as a default,  only the last 1000 commands are
> > stored in the bash history file. Pretty horrified! A quick bit of
> googling
> > gave me the fix to increase the limit etc.
> >
> > Not sure if this is just Ubuntu or linux in general.
> >
> > If you're into the command line 1000 commands don't cover a very long
> > period. I had made a backup of my history file in google docs/drive so
> not
> > all was lost. But it's something I've never seen reference too before. I
> > was on Ubuntu 12.04 so maybe it's changed since then? Don't know.
> >
> >
> > It's been a thousand on most Linux distributions for a while. It
> certainly
> is in CentOS 5 and 6 so that goes back about six years. Interestingly it
> appears to have been 500 in Ubuntu in 2009 but I honestly can't remember.
> Would converting a few things into aliases or shell scripts reduce your
> reliance on history?
>
> S/
>
> Message: 9
> Date: Tue, 5 Nov 2013 18:11:37 +0000
> From: Alan Jenkins <alan.james.jenkins at gmail.com>
> To: UK Ubuntu Talk <ubuntu-uk at lists.ubuntu.com>
> Subject: Re: [ubuntu-uk] 1000 commands
> Message-ID: <-7119838109614320252 at unknownmsgid>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> Shell scripts and aliases are the way to go for common commands. What on
> earth are you using more than a 1000 commands in your history for? I
> recommend making yourself aliases and scripts for your most used commands
> which you should be able to discern from your history file.
>

Cheers, guys, maybe you're right, I might need to up my game a bit in the
Shell script stakes at least (and with aliases).

To answer the question of why I need so much history - I forget stuff!

I'd never be a programmer (I reckon) as I forget things - the command
history is a reminder of the syntax I've used previously - it's also a
reminder of what I've actually done - like a paper trail. As I am learning
the commands and their syntax, the history is creating a document of my
learning, in a way. An example was in setting up a VPN and installing some
CMSes purely with the command line - I look up the syntax for SCP and stuff
but forget it when I've not used it for a while . So next time I want to
set up a new SQL database I can look at my history to help me do it again
without researching it all over again. Also, I get in the zone sometimes -
looking up stuff and learning etc - so I can't remember how I got there
even!!

Maybe I should just install Webmin!!

;)

PS This is my first (brave) attempt at inline posting - I hope it formats
well.

Thanks again for your tips though!!
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