Best of Bash — December 2025

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    Article
    Avatar of freecodecampfreeCodeCamp·22w

    freeCodeCamp's New Relational Databases Certification is Now Live

    freeCodeCamp launched a new Relational Databases certification covering Bash scripting, SQL, and Git. The certification includes interactive lessons, workshops, labs, and quizzes across multiple modules, with five required certification projects. Students must pass a 50-question exam using an open-source exam environment that runs on laptops/desktops. The certification is free and verified, with anti-cheating measures including randomized questions, weekly attempt limits, and manual review. Exams are closed-book and timed, with one attempt per week allowed. The certification replaces portions of the previous Full Stack Developer certification.

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    Article
    Avatar of lobstersLobsters·24w

    Use Python for Scripting!

    Python 3 offers significant advantages over shell scripts for automation tasks, particularly for cross-platform compatibility. While Bash scripts often fail between Linux and Mac due to GNU vs BSD tool differences, Python's standardized library works consistently across systems. Python provides better readability with human-readable method names, a comprehensive standard library covering JSON, HTTP, and data structures, and is pre-installed on most machines. The article demonstrates practical examples comparing Bash's cryptic syntax with Python's clearer alternatives, recommending Python for scripts that grow beyond 10-20 lines or become difficult to maintain.

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    Video
    Avatar of primeagenThePrimeTime·23w

    Github continues to Downfall

    GitHub Actions has suffered from critical bugs for years, including a poorly implemented sleep function that causes infinite loops, consuming entire CPUs and costing users thousands of dollars. A simple fix submitted in 2024 took over a year to merge despite the bug causing CI jobs to hang indefinitely. The codebase shows questionable engineering decisions, from using ping commands as sleep alternatives to busy-wait loops that waste compute resources. These neglected issues have led projects like Zig to abandon GitHub entirely for alternative platforms.

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    Article
    Avatar of selfhstselfh.st·23w

    dockcheck: A CLI Tool for Updating Container Images

    dockcheck is a CLI tool that checks for Docker container image updates without pulling images first. It supports parallel processing, automatic updates, exclusion filters, and notifications via multiple channels (Matrix, Telegram). Configuration is handled through flags or a config file, with Docker Compose labels for fine-grained control. The tool can be scheduled via cron for automated update workflows, with options to delay updates until releases stabilize. Community contributions have added integrations for Prometheus, Zabbix, Unraid, and Synology DSM.

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    Video
    Avatar of dreamsofcodeDreams of Code·20w

    10 Zsh hacks I wish I knew about sooner

    Zsh offers powerful productivity features beyond basic usage. Key capabilities include editing command buffers in your text editor, undoing terminal actions, expanding historical commands with magic-space, automating directory-based actions with chpwd hooks, opening files by extension using suffix aliases, creating reusable command snippets with global aliases, batch renaming files with zmv, bookmarking directories, building custom widgets for buffer manipulation, and creating hotkeys that insert command templates with cursor positioning.

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