Stringing Commands Together

Linux allows you to enter multiple commands at one time. The only requirement is that you separate the commands with a semicolon (you can see an example in Figure 10-10).

Want to see how long you've been online using Netscape? Just combine the date command with Netscape's command.

date; netscape; date

Remember that commands are case sensitive, so the command to start Netscape must be in lowercase to start the browser.

You'll see something like this:

[newuser@localhost newuser]$ date; netscape; date Mon Feb 7 13:26:27 EST 2000

A second date entry appears when you close out of Netscape. Then, the screen will look like this:

[newuser@localhost newuser]$ date; netscape; date Mon Feb 7 13:26:27 EST 2000 Mon Feb 7 14:28:32 EST 2000 [newuser@localhost newuser]$

And the prompt will return. The discrepancy between the two results from the date command shows that you were using Netscape for just over an hour.