Communicating with other users using write
Most of the time when you connect to a UNIX system, you'll be communicating with the computer. You can, though, communicate with other people logged in to the same system. write is ideal for getting a quick message to another user, kind of like putting a yellow sticky note on their computer, as Figure 12.3 shows.
Figure 12.3. You can send quick messages to another user on your system with write.
To communicate with other users using write:
1. | write userid At the shell prompt, type write followed by the userid of the person you want to send a message to. You'll get a blank line with a blinking cursor on it, just waiting for you to type something. |
2. | |
3. |  When you're finished typing, press  to send the message. What you typed will appear on the other user's screen (Figure 12.4).Figure 12.4. The message suddenly appears on the user's screen.
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Tip
Keep in mind that write message will suddenly appear on the recipient's screen and can be an intrusive surprise!
Tip
If you don't want to receive write messages, type mesg n at the shell prompt. This command will keep other people from sending you write messages for the current session. Type mesg y to enable write again.
Tip
You can use the wall command to send write-type messages to everyone logged in to the system. wall is commonly used by system administrators if they need to warn of the system being brought down or something like that.