https://chuck.is/alias/

Chuck Carroll
Reading Writing Now


Some Useful Bash Aliases

Published: 2022-08-06

I spend a good chunk of time in a terminal and sometimes need to run
a long command to get specific tasks done. I've known about aliases
for a while but only recently began using them. Below are some
aliases I've set up permanently in my .bashrc config. Aliases must be
set up in the format of 'alias [name]='[command]' and saved into
.bashrc in the home folder. For example, alias music='cmus' will
launch cmus whenever I enter 'music' into my terminal.

Here is a list of aliases I've set up that range from fun to boring,
but are all useful nonetheless. Entering the alias in a terminal will
automatically run the corresponding command.

  * Alias: weather
    Command: curl wttr.in/austin
    Purpose: spits out what the weather is in Austin TX (or whichever
    city you specify).
  * Alias: define
    Command: sdcv
    Purpose: I wrote a post about this one. Typing 'define' followed
    by a word will output that word's definition.
  * Alias: flac2ogg
    Command: find . -name "*flac" -exec oggenc -q 9 {} \;
    Purpose: When I buy music off of Bandcamp, I download the FLAC
    version and then convert it to OGG. BC does offer OGG, but it's
    in a lower quality than I prefer
  * Alias: wifi
    Command: nmcli dev wifi show-password
    Purpose: Typing this outputs the wifi password of the network I'm
    currently connected to, as well as provides a useful QR code.
  * Alias: unmountBackup
    Command: umount /run/media/chuck/Backup Purpose: I often mount
    and unmount my external drive. Typing "unm" then tabbing will
    autocomplete 'unmountBackup', so I don't have to type out the
    entire path every time.
  * Alias: ddg
    Command: w3m lite.duckduckgo.com
    Purpose: This brings up the light version of Duck Duck Go in w3m
    so I can do web searches right from a terminal window.
  * Alias: rm
    Command: rm -r
    Purpose: Because when I type "rm" I don't want to always have to
    specify "-r" for a directory.
  * Alias: cp
    Command: cp -r
    Purpose: Same as above. When I say "copy this" I always want it
    to copy whatever I'm specifying, even if it's a directory.
  * Alias: rss
    Command: newsboat
    Purpose: A shorter way to start up newsboat (an even quicker way
    is setting a keyboard shortcut to Super+N)
  * Alias: vpn
    Command: protonvpn-cli
    Purpose: Just a shorter way to start up ProtonVPN's CLI tool so I
    can type things like 'vpn -r' instead of 'protonvpn -r'

I also have another alias which will SSH into my shared hosting,
shortening ~70 characters down to just sshchuck.

Thanks for reading. Feel free to send comments, questions, or
recommendations to hey@chuck.is.

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