LOL Of course, if you ever want to check whether a file is safe (i.e. readable ASCII) or not before you cat or vi or less it, is to use the "file" (no quotes) command first.
Of course, if you like your terminal going postal on you, cat away! Ron. --- Technoslick <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Real funny, Angus! Good one! Look at what that > curiosity brought me.... > > I was playing an audio CD in KsCD when I decided to > open a terminal, 'su' > over to root and cat 'message' in /boot. That's when > the joke was on me. All > of a sudden I got a flurry of Morse code beeps > through my speakers, making a > mess of my music. So, I closed the terminal window, > but the Morse code kept > on coming! Gee-e-e-e-z-z-z-z! I think to myself, I > gotta shut this noise > down. Well, now I am faced with having to turn off > my blessed music or see > if the 'bleeping' noise (no cussing implied) would > end on its own. the > bleeping noise (cussing now intended) just kept on > coming, so in disgust (I > hate to interrupt my music) I closed KsCD down. The > Morse code stopped. Wow! > I was so relieved. > > OK. So...I got caught doing a stupid thing. I mean, > curiosity killed the > cat, right? The only thing that bothers me is what > that bleeping noise was > about. It sounded familiar, somehow....I know that I > have heard this stuff > before.Hmmm...Yes! I remember now! Wait! Oh NO! It > can't be?! Geez, I can > see them coming, out of my kitchen window. NO! > No....Not again! They took me > once! No...! OMG!!! No-o-o-o-o-o...... > > T ;-) > > Moral: Don't ever 'cat' a binary file in Linux. It's > extremely noisy and > just infuriate's the hell out of 'them'. And they > will come for you, just as > they have for me. Oh yes, they will come.... > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Angus Auld" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Tuesday, December 03, 2002 11:33 AM > Subject: [newbie] unreadable files? :-/ > > > Greetings, I am having a strange thing > happen........ > I am quite certain that just a couple days ago I was > able to read, and even > edit, a file/s. Now I am not even able to read them. > Not as plain text > anyway. They are now being identified as "unknown" > type. When I open them, > they are just so much code. :-/ > > Now, unless I have completely gone off my rocker, > something strange is > happening here.....and I don't know what it is. > > Could somebody who is running Mdk 9.0 out there have > a look in /boot, and > check the files; message-text or message-graphic, > and verify for me whether > they are plain text files that can be read? > > I have read permission on them, and even as root I > get the same thing. > > I'm experiencing a glitch with lilo, and am curious > about this "happening". > > TIA for any help. > > > > --Angus > > "Let us not look back in anger or forward in fear, > but around in > awareness."--James Thurber > > *********************************************** > *Reg. Linux User #278931* > *********************************************** > *Power by Mandrake Linux 9.0* > *********************************************** > > -- > _______________________________________________ > Get your free email from http://mymail.operamail.com > > Powered by Outblaze > > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- > ---- > > > Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? > Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com > > > > > Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? > > Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com > __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com
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