The Surprising History Behind 10 Iconic Linux Commands

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Today we’re sharing a history lesson. Dr. Johns explores why common Linux commands are what they are, the community responds to a popular video on YouTube, and news from the tech community. As always, we also have a survey at the bottom.

Resources

• The Arcane Origins of Common Linux Commands

• This Week’s Job Opportunities in Tech (Hackr Jobs)

• How to Start a Career in Data Science: Roadmap

• From Figma to Code Frontend Dev Course (Scrimba)

• Tech Tutorials from the Community

• MAANG-Inspired Coding Interview Prep (Educative)

• JavaScript Project: To-Do List

• Solana Meme Coin Sharpei Plunges 96% in Seconds (Decrypt)

• Top-Rated Artificial Intelligence Courses and Tutorials

• Bluesky Adds 700k Users In a Week (The Verge)

The Surprising Origins of Common Linux Commands

Discover the fascinating history behind classic Unix commands like ls, chmod, cat, touch, grep, sed, awk, kill, DD, and ping. Learn how these commands got their names and evolved from the early days of Unix to become essential tools for modern systems. Let’s connect with decades of computing history.

This is part of our series on Linux commands. Check out the full playlist to see more Linux easter eggs, dangerous Linux commands, and common challenges everyone faces at the terminal.

From This Week’s Sponsor

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How to Start a Career in Data Science

If you’re not sure where to start in the competitive and lucrative field of data science, there’s a roadmap. We cover what to learn (and when). Plus, we share best community-rated tutorials for specific skills.

Check out the data science roadmap for the full list of skills you’ll want to learn as a beginner in the field. Then, head over to our job board to see internship opportunities and full-time jobs listed every week.

And if you’re new to coding, you may want to check out a hands-on data science course. Educative offers a hands-on Python for Data Science course that gives you experience with Python libraries such as Numpy and pandas for data extraction, cleaning, and processing purposes.

We like this resource for:

• 200+ Lessons

• 40+ Quizzes

• 475+ Playgrounds

Tech Tutorials

Hackr originated as a resource where people shared their favorite tech resources. Our resource library includes the world’s most popular and highly-rated courses, tutorials, walkthroughs, projects, and docs.

Some of the most popular topics:

• Artificial Intelligence

• Python

• JavaScript

• Android Development

• C++

• React

• Java

The library includes thousands of resources, including many free options. If you’ve seen something helpful on YouTube or taken a helpful course on edX, please let us know. We’re always looking for more resources.

This Week’s Highlighted Community Comment

We’re now highlighting a few of our favorite community comments. Here’s one on our video covering the forgotten “finger” command.

And we’re happy to share the latest tech jobs for the community.

Partner Message

We’re always looking out for useful tools for programmers, developers, designers, and project managers. Here’s one that caught our attention.

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Portfolio Project for Web Developers

This week, we wanted to share a popular web development project. It’s a JavaScript To-Do List.

This is such a fun project because it’s also practical. You can build a web-based to-do list that tracks activities. It’s also a good way to keep track of your progress on larger projects in your portfolio.

You can find the full HTML, JavaScript, and CSS code at Hackr.io.

Procedural Programming Is Still Essential

Procedural programming is the bread and butter of software development, the no-nonsense, straightforward approach that’s been the backbone of coding for decades.

In fact, procedural programming is still essential in 2024, powering critical systems like operating systems (e.g., Linux kernel in C), embedded devices, and performance-sensitive applications, where its straightforward, efficient structure is necessary for low-level control and resource management.

It’s all about breaking down a problem into a series of step-by-step instructions, making it the go-to method for anyone looking to write clear, linear, and easy-to-follow program code.

In The News

This past week, we read some interesting tech news. Here are a few stories that caught our attention.

Bluesky added 700k new users after the US elections. It’s the number 2 social networking app in the US App store.

Another meme coin went belly-up. It lost 96% of its value after skyrocketing to a $54 million market cap.

Developers looking to be featured in the Apple App Store now have a new way to make it happen. They used to have to wait for their work to be recognized. Now they can nominate their own apps, games, and updates.