In
Unix
Unix (; trademarked as UNIX) is a family of multitasking, multiuser computer operating systems that derive from the original AT&T Unix, whose development started in 1969 at the Bell Labs research center by Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, an ...
and
Unix-like
A Unix-like (sometimes referred to as UN*X or *nix) operating system is one that behaves in a manner similar to a Unix system, although not necessarily conforming to or being certified to any version of the Single UNIX Specification. A Unix-li ...
operating systems, is a
utility
As a topic of economics, utility is used to model worth or value. Its usage has evolved significantly over time. The term was introduced initially as a measure of pleasure or happiness as part of the theory of utilitarianism by moral philosoph ...
used to
send messages to another user by writing a message directly to another user's
TTY.
History
The write command was included in the First Edition of the
Research Unix
The term "Research Unix" refers to early versions of the Unix operating system for DEC PDP-7, PDP-11, VAX and Interdata 7/32 and 8/32 computers, developed in the Bell Labs Computing Sciences Research Center (CSRC).
History
The term ''Resear ...
operating system. A similar command appeared in
Compatible Time-Sharing System.
Sample usage
The syntax for the write command is:
$ write user tymessage
The write session is terminated by sending
EOF, which can be done by pressing Ctrl+D. The ''tty'' argument is only necessary when a user is logged into more than one terminal.
write(1) – util-linux man page
/ref>
A conversation initiated between two users on the same machine:
$ write root pts/7
test
Will show up to the user on that console as:
Message from root@wiki on pts/8 at 11:19 ...
test
See also
* List of Unix commands
This is a list of Unix commands as specified by IEEE Std 1003.1-2008, which is part of the Single UNIX Specification (SUS). These commands can be found on Unix operating systems and most Unix-like operating systems.
List
See also
* List of G ...
* talk (Unix)
talk is a Unix text chat program, originally allowing messaging only between the users logged on to one multi-user computer—but later extended to allow chat to users on other systems.
Although largely superseded by IRC and other modern ...
* wall (Unix)
(an abbreviation of write to all) is a Unix command-line utility that displays the contents of a computer file or standard input to all logged-in users. It is typically used by root to send out shutting down message to all users just before pow ...
References
{{Unix commands
Unix user management and support-related utilities
Standard Unix programs
Unix SUS2008 utilities