The bash prompt can be adjusted to ones needs, see this manual page. For example, you can display the current user, directory and time. The Ubuntu default prompt looks like this: PS1=’${debian_chroot:+($debian_chroot)}[\033[01;32m]\u@\h[\033[00m]:[\033[01;34m]\w[\033[00m]\$ ‘ It is also possible to add the
Test TCP connection without telnet or nc
Sometimes you need to test if a network connection works without actually using the intended client program. Normally you would use a tool like telnet or nc to do this, e.g. $ telnet www.google.com 80 Trying 172.217.20.68… Connected to www.google.com.