On Thu, Oct 14, 2004 at 08:59:02AM -0700, Josef Lowder wrote:
> Is there an efficient syntax to string commands so I could do a 'diff' 
> on these two listings (without listing each to a file to compare files) 
> to see what the two additional files are? 

With bash and some others:

diff <(ls -a ~) <(ls -A ~)

The <() syntax is called "command substitution".  It basically gives a
filehandle on the output of the command you have inside.  You can think
of it as similar to a pipe, except it's for commands that don't accept
data on their standard input.  For fun, you can try "file -s <(df -h)"
(or any other command instead of df) and note the results.  (Results may
differ on different distributions, but "fd" is short for "file
descriptor".)

-- 
Bill Jonas    *    bill@billjonas.com    *    http://www.billjonas.com/
"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your front door.  You step
into the Road,  and if you don't keep your feet,  there  is  no knowing
where you might be swept off to."  --  Bilbo Baggins