nix_utils

A collection of common command-line tools rebuilt in Spinel — a compiled Ruby language. Each tool works the same way as the classic Unix versions you already know, but runs as a fast native binary produced by the Spinel compiler.

What is this?

If you have ever typed ls, grep, cat, or sort in a terminal, you have used tools like these. This project rebuilds 71 of them in Spinel so you can study how they work, learn Spinel by reading real programs, or use them on systems where the usual tools are not available.

What tools are included?

Tool	What it does
base64	Convert files to safe text and back
basename	Get just the file name from a full path
cat	Print files to the screen
cksum	Create a checksum fingerprint for a file
column	Line up text into neat columns
comm	Compare two sorted files
cp	Copy files and directories
cut	Pull out selected columns from each line
date	Show the current date and time
dirname	Get the folder part of a file path
du	Find out how much disk space files are using
echo	Print words to the screen
env	Show environment variables
expand	Change tab characters into spaces
factor	Break a number into its prime factors
false	Do nothing and report failure
find	Search for files and folders
fmt	Reformat text paragraphs to a target width
fold	Wrap long lines to fit a certain width
grep	Search for lines that match a pattern
head	Show the first few lines of a file
hexdump	Show the raw bytes of a file in hex
hostname	Show the name of this computer
id	Show who you are logged in as
join	Combine two files by matching a shared field
ln	Create a link (shortcut) to a file
logname	Print your login name
ls	List files and folders in a directory
md5sum	Calculate or check MD5 fingerprints
mkdir	Create a new folder
mktemp	Create a temporary file with a unique name
mv	Move or rename a file
nl	Add line numbers to a file
nproc	Print how many processor cores are available
numfmt	Convert numbers to and from human-readable form
od	Dump file contents in octal or other formats
paste	Combine lines from multiple files side by side
printenv	Print the value of environment variables
printf	Format and print text with precise control
pwd	Print the current working directory
readlink	Show where a symbolic link points
realpath	Print the full, real path of a file
rm	Delete files and directories
rmdir	Remove an empty directory
sed	Find and replace text in a stream
seq	Print a sequence of numbers
sha1sum	Calculate or check SHA-1 fingerprints
sha224sum	Calculate or check SHA-224 fingerprints
sha256sum	Calculate or check SHA-256 fingerprints
sha384sum	Calculate or check SHA-384 fingerprints
sha512sum	Calculate or check SHA-512 fingerprints
shuf	Randomly shuffle lines
sleep	Pause for a set amount of time
sort	Arrange lines in order
split	Chop a big file into smaller pieces
stat	Show detailed information about a file
strings	Find readable text hidden inside any file
tac	Print a file in reverse order
tail	Show the last few lines of a file
tee	Send output to both the screen and a file
touch	Update a file's timestamp or create an empty file
tr	Translate or delete characters
true	Do nothing and report success
tsort	Sort a list where some items must come before others
uname	Print information about the operating system
unexpand	Convert spaces back into tab characters
uniq	Remove or report duplicate lines
wc	Count lines, words, and characters in a file
whoami	Print your current username
xargs	Build and run commands using a list of items
yes	Repeatedly print the same text over and over

Install Spinel

With asdf:

asdf plugin add spinel https://github.com/jockofcode/asdf-spinel
asdf install spinel master
asdf set -u spinel master # make it the default (~/.tool-versions)

Or build it from source:

git clone https://github.com/matz/spinel.git
cd spinel
make
export PATH="$PWD/bin:$PATH"cd -

How to build

You need the Spinel compiler installed. Building the whole repo produces bin/spin alongside the compiler.

Build a single tool:

spin build bin/cat.rb

Run a tool without building first:

spin run bin/cat.rb -- myfile.txt

Build all tools:

spin build

Compiled binaries land in build/bin/. Install them to ~/.local/bin so you can use them anywhere:

spin install

Project layout

nix_utils/
spin.toml Project settings
nix_utils/
nix_helpers.rb Shared helper functions used by many tools
file_ext.rb Bindings to native C file operations
sp_file_ext.c Native C code for file operations not in Spinel yet
proc_ext.rb Bindings to native C process operations
sp_proc_ext.c Native C code for process operations not in Spinel yet
checksum_tool.rb Shared code for all the checksum tools (md5sum, sha*sum)
bin/
cat.rb Each file here is one tool
grep.rb
ls.rb
...
test/
test_file_ext.rb Tests for the native C file extension
man/
cat.1.txt Plain-text manual page for each tool
grep.1.txt
...
build/ Compiled binaries go here (do not commit this folder)

Reading the manual pages

Each tool has a plain-text manual page in the man/ folder written in simple language. To read one, open it in any text viewer:

cat man/grep.1.txt

Or pipe it through a pager:

cat man/sort.1.txt | less

Running the tests

spin test

License

MIT — see LICENSE.