Ole Bakstad's blog

Today I decided that I’m going to give twitter another try, but the first thing that struck me was how cumbersome it was to actually post a tweet.

The way I did it:

1. Open your favourite browser
2. Go to twitter.com
3. Log in
4. Write a tweet

I’m a Linux user and I love the terminal. Wouldn’t it be better to write tweets from the terminal? – Yes it would!

I have written a quick and dirty python script that enables you to write tweets from the terminal.

You can download the script here.

Install guide for Debian:

Step 1: Download

$ wget http://dibon.net/tweet
$ chmod +x tweet
$ sudo mv tweet /usr/bin/

Step 2: Install curl

The script uses curl to send data to twitter, if you don’t have curl installed you have to install it:

$ sudo aptitude install curl

Step 3: Make the config

Make a file called “.tweet” in your home directory:

$ vim .tweet

And insert the following:

[login]
username = YOURUSERNAME
password = YOURPASSWORD

You may want to edit the permissions for the file

$ chmod 0700 .tweet

That’s about it. You may have you reopen your terminal window before you can use the tweet command.

Usage:

$ tweet "I'm writing a tweet in terminal!"

Unfortunately it is necessary to use single or double quotes before and after the message.

Mats has written a great post on the difference between being inspired by and outright copying. The two Norwegian geniuses Magnus Andersen and Thomas Skorpen has created this amazing new website for keeping you’re friends and family updated with that you’re doing. This revolutionary can be found at qpsa.no (Norwegian language).

Disappointed? So am I. The page is, like mats says, a outright copy of twitter (with a crappier design). Magnus and Thomas, you should be ashamed.

Read Mats’ post to see how non-revolutionary qpsa really is.