217 lines
8.1 KiB
Markdown
217 lines
8.1 KiB
Markdown
You're absolutely right that tools built on solid, fundamental primitives tend to outlast fleeting "modern" alternatives. Here's a **reasonable list of primitives** (and associated tools) that have stood the test of time, categorized by domain:
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---
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### **1. Text Processing (The Unix Philosophy)**
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- **Core Primitives**: Lines, streams, regular expressions, fields/delimiters.
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- **Tools to Master**:
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- `grep` – Filtering by pattern.
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- `sed` – Stream editing (substitutions, deletions).
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- `awk` – Field-based text processing (awk is almost a language itself).
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- `cut` / `paste` / `join` – Column and table operations.
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- `sort` / `uniq` – Sorting and deduplication.
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- `tr` – Character-level transformations.
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- `xargs` – Construct commands from input.
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**Why?** These tools compose endlessly and handle 90% of text wrangling tasks.
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---
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### **2. System & Process Control**
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- **Core Primitives**: Files, processes, signals, permissions, pipes.
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- **Tools to Master**:
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- `find` – File system search with powerful predicates.
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- `ps` / `top` / `htop` – Process inspection.
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- `kill` / `pkill` / `killall` – Process management.
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- `cron` / `systemd` (timers) – Scheduling.
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- `lsof` – List open files/sockets.
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- `strace` / `perf` – Debugging and profiling.
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**Why?** Understanding processes and system state is forever relevant.
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---
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### **3. Networking**
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- **Core Primitives**: Sockets, ports, packets, DNS, HTTP.
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- **Tools to Master**:
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- `curl` / `wget` – HTTP/HTTPS interactions.
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- `ssh` / `scp` / `rsync` – Remote access and file transfer.
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- `netstat` / `ss` – Socket inspection.
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- `nc` (`netcat`) – Arbitrary TCP/UDP connections.
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- `tcpdump` / `Wireshark` – Packet inspection.
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- `dig` / `nslookup` – DNS debugging.
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- `iptables` / `nftables` – Firewalling (still foundational despite newer abstractions).
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**Why?** Networking is universal, and these tools expose the underlying reality.
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---
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### **4. Files & Storage**
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- **Core Primitives**: Inodes, blocks, mounts, symlinks, permissions.
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- **Tools to Master**:
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- `dd` – Low-level file/device operations.
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- `mount` / `umount` / `df` / `du` – Disk management.
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- `tar` / `gzip` / `xz` – Archiving and compression.
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- `ln` – Hard/soft links.
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- `chmod` / `chown` / `acl` – Permissions.
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- `rsync` – Efficient file synchronization.
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**Why?** Filesystems don’t change as fast as abstractions built atop them.
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---
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### **5. Version Control (The Primitive: Diffs & Patches)**
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- **Tool to Master**: `git` (but understand its internals: objects, refs, the index).
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- **Bonus**: Learn `diff` / `patch` for low-level changes.
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**Why?** Git won. Knowing it deeply pays dividends.
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---
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### **6. Shell Scripting**
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- **Core Primitives**: Variables, loops, conditionals, subshells, exit codes.
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- **Tools to Master**:
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- `bash` (or `zsh`) – The dominant shells.
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- `jq` – JSON processing (for modern APIs).
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- `make` – Dependency-based workflows (not just for C!).
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**Why?** Automation is eternal, and shell is the lingua franca.
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---
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### **7. Performance & Debugging**
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- **Core Primitives**: CPU, memory, I/O, latency.
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- **Tools to Master**:
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- `perf` / `strace` / `ltrace` – Profiling and tracing.
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- `vmstat` / `iostat` / `sar` – System metrics.
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- `gdb` – Debugging binaries.
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- `time` – Measuring command runtime.
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**Why?** Performance bottlenecks always resurface in new forms.
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---
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### **What to Master vs. Know?**
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- **Master**: `grep`, `awk`, `sed`, `find`, `git`, `ssh`, `iptables`, `jq`, `curl`, `bash`.
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- **Know Well Enough**: `strace`, `tcpdump`, `perf`, `dd`, `make`.
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---
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### **Avoid Overinvesting In:**
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- Fad tools that abstract too much (e.g., overly "declarative" systems that hide the underlying primitives).
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- GUI-only tools (unless they’re irreplaceable, like Wireshark).
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---
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### **Key Insight:**
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The tools that last are the ones that **expose underlying system realities** rather than abstract them away. Learn the primitives they’re built on (text streams, processes, files, networks), and you’ll adapt to any "modern" tool that comes and goes.
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---
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You're absolutely right that tools built on solid, fundamental primitives tend to outlast fleeting "modern" alternatives. Here's a **reasonable list of primitives** (and associated tools) that have stood the test of time, categorized by domain:
|
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|
||
---
|
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|
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### **1. Text Processing (The Unix Philosophy)**
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- **Core Primitives**: Lines, streams, regular expressions, fields/delimiters.
|
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- **Tools to Master**:
|
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- `grep` – Filtering by pattern.
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- `sed` – Stream editing (substitutions, deletions).
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- `awk` – Field-based text processing (awk is almost a language itself).
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- `cut` / `paste` / `join` – Column and table operations.
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- `sort` / `uniq` – Sorting and deduplication.
|
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- `tr` – Character-level transformations.
|
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- `xargs` – Construct commands from input.
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|
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**Why?** These tools compose endlessly and handle 90% of text wrangling tasks.
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|
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---
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### **2. System & Process Control**
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- **Core Primitives**: Files, processes, signals, permissions, pipes.
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- **Tools to Master**:
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- `find` – File system search with powerful predicates.
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- `ps` / `top` / `htop` – Process inspection.
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- `kill` / `pkill` / `killall` – Process management.
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- `cron` / `systemd` (timers) – Scheduling.
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- `lsof` – List open files/sockets.
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- `strace` / `perf` – Debugging and profiling.
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**Why?** Understanding processes and system state is forever relevant.
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---
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### **3. Networking**
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- **Core Primitives**: Sockets, ports, packets, DNS, HTTP.
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- **Tools to Master**:
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- `curl` / `wget` – HTTP/HTTPS interactions.
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- `ssh` / `scp` / `rsync` – Remote access and file transfer.
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- `netstat` / `ss` – Socket inspection.
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- `nc` (`netcat`) – Arbitrary TCP/UDP connections.
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- `tcpdump` / `Wireshark` – Packet inspection.
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- `dig` / `nslookup` – DNS debugging.
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- `iptables` / `nftables` – Firewalling (still foundational despite newer abstractions).
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**Why?** Networking is universal, and these tools expose the underlying reality.
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---
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### **4. Files & Storage**
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- **Core Primitives**: Inodes, blocks, mounts, symlinks, permissions.
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- **Tools to Master**:
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- `dd` – Low-level file/device operations.
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- `mount` / `umount` / `df` / `du` – Disk management.
|
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- `tar` / `gzip` / `xz` – Archiving and compression.
|
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- `ln` – Hard/soft links.
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- `chmod` / `chown` / `acl` – Permissions.
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- `rsync` – Efficient file synchronization.
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**Why?** Filesystems don’t change as fast as abstractions built atop them.
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---
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### **5. Version Control (The Primitive: Diffs & Patches)**
|
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- **Tool to Master**: `git` (but understand its internals: objects, refs, the index).
|
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- **Bonus**: Learn `diff` / `patch` for low-level changes.
|
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|
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**Why?** Git won. Knowing it deeply pays dividends.
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---
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### **6. Shell Scripting**
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- **Core Primitives**: Variables, loops, conditionals, subshells, exit codes.
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- **Tools to Master**:
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- `bash` (or `zsh`) – The dominant shells.
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- `jq` – JSON processing (for modern APIs).
|
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- `make` – Dependency-based workflows (not just for C!).
|
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**Why?** Automation is eternal, and shell is the lingua franca.
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---
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### **7. Performance & Debugging**
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- **Core Primitives**: CPU, memory, I/O, latency.
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- **Tools to Master**:
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- `perf` / `strace` / `ltrace` – Profiling and tracing.
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- `vmstat` / `iostat` / `sar` – System metrics.
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- `gdb` – Debugging binaries.
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- `time` – Measuring command runtime.
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**Why?** Performance bottlenecks always resurface in new forms.
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---
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### **What to Master vs. Know?**
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- **Master**: `grep`, `awk`, `sed`, `find`, `git`, `ssh`, `iptables`, `jq`, `curl`, `bash`.
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- **Know Well Enough**: `strace`, `tcpdump`, `perf`, `dd`, `make`.
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---
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### **Avoid Overinvesting In:**
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- Fad tools that abstract too much (e.g., overly "declarative" systems that hide the underlying primitives).
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- GUI-only tools (unless they’re irreplaceable, like Wireshark).
|
||
|
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---
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### **Key Insight:**
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The tools that last are the ones that **expose underlying system realities** rather than abstract them away. Learn the primitives they’re built on (text streams, processes, files, networks), and you’ll adapt to any "modern" tool that comes and goes. |