Communicating with Other Users Using write

Communicating with Other Users Using write

Most of the time when you connect to a Unix system, you'll be communicating with the computer. You can, though, communicate with other people logged in to the same system. write is ideal for getting a quick message to other userskind of like putting a yellow sticky note on their computer, as Figure 12.3 shows.

Figure 12.3. You can send quick messages to another user on your system with write.

To Communicate with Other Users Using write:

1.	write userid At the shell prompt, type write followed by the userid of the person to whom you want to send a message. You'll get a blank line with a blinking cursor on it, just waiting for you to type something.
2.	Wanna meet for lunch? Go ahead and type your message (Figure 12.3).
3.	When you're finished typing, press to send the message. What you typed will appear on the other user's screen (Figure 12.4). Figure 12.4. The message suddenly appears on the user's screen.

Tips

• Keep in mind that a write message will suddenly appear on the recipient's screen and can be an intrusive surprise!

• If you don't want to receive write messages, type mesg n at the shell prompt. This command will keep other people from sending you write messages for the current session. Type mesg y to enable write again.