WRITE(1)						 WRITE(1)

NAME
       write  -	 write to another user

SYNOPSIS
       write user [ ttyname ]

DESCRIPTION
       Write  copies  lines from your terminal to that of another
       user.  When first called, it sends the message

	    Message from yourname yourttyname...

       The recipient of the message should  write  back	 at  this
       point.	Communication  continues  until an end of file is
       read from the terminal or an interrupt is sent.	 At  that
       point  write writes `EOT' on the other terminal and exits.

       If you want to write to a user who is logged in more  than
       once,  the  ttyname  argument  may be used to indicate the
       appropriate terminal name.

       Permission to write may be denied or granted by use of the
       mesg  command.  At the outset writing is allowed.  Certain
       commands, in particular nroff and pr(1) disallow	 messages
       in order to prevent messy output.

       If  the character `!' is found at the beginning of a line,
       write calls the shell to execute the rest of the line as a
       command.

       The  following protocol is suggested for using write: when
       you first write to another user, wait  for  him	to  write
       back  before starting to send.  Each party should end each
       message with a distinctive signal--(o) for `over' is  con-
       ventional--that	the  other may reply.  (oo) for `over and
       out' is suggested when conversation is about to be  termi-
       nated.

FILES
       /etc/utmp to find user
       /bin/sh	      to execute `!'

SEE ALSO
       mesg(1), who(1), mail(1)

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