Special User Names

You can give GNU Finger one of several "special" user names. These user names all begin with a period (`.') and instruct the receiving finger daemon to do something that only a GNU Finger daemon can do. Currently, the "special" names are:

`.free'

Return a list of free machines. `Free' machines are those that have no users logged in, or have been idle for a long time. The information returned makes it clear which one is true.

`.all'

Return the information about every machine that the Finger server knows about. `.all' is equivalent to issuing the finger command without specifying the user name.

`.site'

Returns information about the site, such as company and location.

`.clients'

Returns a list of the clients that the GNU Finger server knows about. Also lists who is logged onto the console.

`.faces'

Return a list of the faces that this server has available. The last line output tells you how many lines were listed previously.

`.local'

Finger only at the specific machine. This allows finger to continue to be useful even in the event that the server is down. It also allows you to examine all the login records of a user. Normally, the server only keeps track of the most recently active login record for each user.

`.help'

Describe services provided by the finger server.

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