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 Figure 13-14).

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 lower-case to start the browser.

In the Xterm window, we'll see something like this:

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

We'll see the second date entry when we close out of Netscape. Then, our 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 we were using Netscape for just over an hour.