Eliana Willis

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    in Information Technology

    Need to manage Linux passwords on the command line? No GUI, no problem!

    I can now more easily run Linux commands at-will. Jack Wallen/ZDNETI cannot tell you how many times I’ve had to manage user passwords in Linux without the help of a GUI app. Whether it’s on a server or because I’m using SSH to access a remote machine, knowing the commands available for that task has saved my skin on several occasions. The good news is that there’s only one command you must know to manage those passwords from the command line interface (CLI). However, there’s a second command I consider essential as well. Also: The first 5 Linux commands every new user should learnI want to address both of these commands and show you how powerful and helpful they can be.Are you ready for this?The passwd commandThe name of this command always trips up new users at first. When I first started working with Linux, it took me a while for my fingers to remember the command is passwd and not password. The passwd command enables you to set, change, and check the status of a password. It also can force a user to change their password and lock/unlock accounts. More

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    in Networking

    I’m a tech pro – but when a hurricane hit my mountain home, the disconnection shocked me

    Damage from Hurricane Helene in Asheville, North Carolina. Steven Vaughan-Nichols/ZDNETWhen Hurricane Helene announced itself with wind and rain hammering on my house in Asheville, North Carolina, in the early hours of Sept. 27, I turned over and went back to sleep. Then, the crashes awoke me. I could tell my home was OK, but over the storm’s howls, I heard trees falling all around me on my neighbors’ homes. Even so, little did I know just how bad the situation was. Assessing the damages The morning came, and as often happens with severe storms, the sun was shining, and it was a lovely day. Until my partner and I went out, we didn’t know that every other home in our historic neighborhood of Montford had large, old trees down.Also: 5 hurricane-tracking apps I rely on as a Floridian tech pro – and which one is my favoriteOur neighbor had three trees down but, by a miracle, none had done serious damage. Three houses down the other way, it was a different story. There, a huge, century-old tree had crushed part of the front porch and the second floor. The pattern repeated as we walked around our neighborhood. Downed trees and powerlines were everywhere. All the streets were blocked in every direction. You couldn’t walk more than two blocks from our home, never mind drive. However, as we talked to our neighbors, we discovered no one had died or been hurt by the hurricane in our area. We had no idea how lucky we had been. More