Posts contained in the “CLI” category:

Even though you can achieve a lot via FTP or a web-based interface, using a command line interface can make your work much more efficient. The biggest caveat is that there is no “undo” button.

Adding Page Numbers to a PDF file

I create a lot of booklets. Usually, this is because it’s a great way for me to put together some files and take them with me. I can slip them in a briefcase or backpack, and pull them out to read whenever I have a few spare moments. I recently had a situation where I …read more…

Learning Linux by Studying the Man Pages

So I did a thing, and I posted it to Reddit: Most applications in Linux come with a man page—essentially, an online manual. You can invoke this for any installed app with  man <application> where <application> is the name of the app in question.  I will say that the quality (and size) of these vary by …read more…

Optimize a scanned pdf on Linux

I scanned a rather longish document (241 pages), which resulted in a 101.7 MB document. I needed to get the file size down, but couldn’t find a decent way.  Finally, after quite a bit of googling, I found this link. I don’t know why, but it worked. It got that 101.7 MB document down to …read more…

A General Theory of Backups

In working with people who are new to web design and development, I have often found that backing up a website is one of the last things on their mind. They’re more interested in the fun stuff. Backing up your website is more like a chore. It’s the computer equivalent of cleaning the litter box. …read more…

S3cmd on Ubuntu with DreamObjects

Bucket

I use DreamObjects a lot: as low-cost online storage, as a CDN for large files (especially podcasts and image files), as a CDN for files I want to have access to from a lot of different locations, and as a place to store WordPress backups (using Ipstenu’s fantastic DreamObjects Backups plugin). The price is great …read more…

Installing Get Simple CMS via the Command Line

If you’re patient, installing software on your website via FTP isn’t a bad way to go, although it takes forever and depending on the quality of your internet connection, you may have connectivity issues causing the entire thing to hang. (Although I’ve installed some pretty big packages via FTP at McDonald’s of all place—my local …read more…

Introduction to the Command Line

I recently migrated all of my sites to a new web host, which meant downloading all my files and databases from my old web host and uploading them to my new host. It’s not exactly that simple, because my new host does some things radically different than my old host, but it’s close to that simple. …read more…