write and talk

Write and talk send messages to and request a conversation with a user, respectively.

Write just prints out a message from you to another users screen - it's not interactive on their part. So it's useful for short messages.

# e.g. 1) - demonstrates one use of the write command
$ write user
This is a message I am typing ...
.... more text here ....
CTRL+C

# e.g. 2) demonstrates a 'neater' way of sending a brief message
$ echo 'This is a message' | write user

Talk, on the other hand, is an interactive program where what you type is sent instantly to their screen, and vice versa. They're rather hard to describe, but try them out with a friend and you'll soon see what I mean.

# e.g. 3) requests a conversation with user
$ talk user
# a talk request message will be displayed in their window
# they must type "talk your_username" to commence a conversation

To close either write or talk, press CTRL+C.

Wall prints out the same short message to everyone who is not refusing message (wall means write all) and on frink can only be used by an Administrator.

# the manual for write
man write

# the manual for talk
man talk

Now we'll see how to set if you are available for conversation by the mesg command.