Power tools

Finding out more information about a user

The finger command shows you more information about a user. To use finger, type finger, the login name of the person you want to find out more information about, and press <Enter>.

For example:

   $ finger sarah
   Login name: sarah     			In real life: Sarah Connell
   Directory: /u/sarah                 	Shell: /usr/sco/bin/ksh
   On since Jun 28 08:06:50 on tty001      14 minutes Idle Time
   No Plan

The information finger shows you depends on how it has been set up on your system. If you create a file called .plan in your home directory, the information in this file is shown when someone types finger and your login name:

   $ cd $HOME
   $ cat > .plan
   To finish writing the tutorial and go on a long, long vacation
   <Ctrl>D
   $ finger susannah
   Login name: susannah  			In real life: Susannah Skyer
   Directory: /u/susannah              	Shell: /bin/sh
   Not logged in.
   Plan:
   To finish writing the tutorial and go on a long, long vacation