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12 Basic Finger Guide

On many systems there exists the `finger' command, which yield information about each user that's currently logged in. This command also has extensions for use over the Internet, as well. Under normal circumstances, the command is simply `finger' for a summary of who's logged into the local system, or `finger username' for specific information about a user. It's also possible to go one step further and go onto the network. The general usage is

finger @hostname

To see who's currently logged in at Widener University, for instance, use

% finger @cs.widener.edu
[cs.widener.edu]
Login       Name              TTY Idle    When            Where
brendan  Brendan Kehoe         p0      Fri 02:14  tattoo.cs.widene
sven     Sven Heinicke         p1      Fri 04:16  xyplex3.cs.widen

To find out about a certain user, they can be fingered specifically (and need not be logged in):

% finger bart@cs.widener.edu
[cs.widener.edu]
Login name: bart                        In real life: Bart Simpson
Directory: /home/springfield/bart       Shell: /bin/underachiever
Affiliation: Brother of Lisa            Home System: channel29.fox.org
Last login Thu May 23 12:14 (EDT) on ttyp6 from channel29.fox.org.
No unread mail
Project: To become a "fluff" cartoon character.
Plan:
Don't have a cow, man.

Please realize that some sites are very security conscious, and need to restrict the information about their systems and users available to the outside world. To that end, they often block finger requests from outside sites--so don't be surprised if fingering a computer or a user returns with `Connection refused'.


12.1 What Else Can Finger Be Used For?


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