Linux Pocket Guide, 2nd Edition

Name

finger — stdin  stdout  - file  -- opt  --help  --version

Synopsis

finger [options] [user[@host]]

The finger command prints logged-in user information in a short form:

$ finger
Login     Name             Tty      Idle  Login Time
smith     Sandy Smith      :0             Sep  6 17:09
barrett   Daniel Barrett   :pts/1     24  Sep  6 17:10
jones     Jill Jones       :pts/2         Sep  8 20:58

or a long form:

$ finger smith
Login: smith                       Name: Sandy Smith
Directory: /home/smith             Shell: /bin/bash
On since Sat Sep  6 17:09 (EDT) on :0
Last login Mon Sep  8 21:07 (EDT) on pts/6 from localhost
No mail.
Project:
Enhance world peace
Plan:
Mistrust first impulses; they are always right.

The user argument can be a local username or a remote user in the form user@host. Remote hosts will respond to finger requests only if they are configured to do so.

Useful options

-l	Print in long format.
-s	Print in short format.
-p	Don’t display the Project and Plan sections, which are ordinarily read from the user’s ~/.project and ~/.plan files, respectively.