SUM(1B)

📦 version 070715, in nixos 26.05, nixpkgs unstable

💅 SUM(1B) 💅

okay so this is the BSD System Compatibility manual, and today’s main character is sum. she sums, she counts blocks, she serves. iconic behavior only. ✨

🎀 NAME 🎀

sum — (BSD) sum and count blocks in a file. literally the whole gig, no cap.

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

/ucb/sum [file]

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

bestie, sum does two things for the named file: it calculates and prints a 16-bit checksum for it, and it also prints the number of kilobytes in the file. that’s the vibe. 🫶

it’s typically used to look for bad spots, or to validate a file communicated over some transmission line. so if a file traveled through a transmission line and you need a vibe check? this is the girl for the job. 🌈

🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

🔥 DIAGNOSTICS 🔥

okay so the tea: the Read error situation is indistinguishable from end of file on most devices. so like, check the block count, bestie. don’t let the ambiguity gaslight you. 😭

👑 NOTES 👑

  • the checksum is identical to that obtained with the -r option of /5bin/sum. fr fr.
  • the algorithm may produce different results in different implementations. for this reason, cksum(1) should be used in preference. periodt, use cksum(1).

mwah 💋 this was the SUM(1B) page from the Heirloom Toolchest, dated 10/11/03 — bye bestie! 🎀💖

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