12/29   Is there a command like 'tail' that will read a file backwards?
        Tail does not do what I want because of a limited buffer size. I
        want to read the *ENTIRE* file backwards. Less doesn't work because
        it relies on line numbers and the file is corrupted. (Essentially,
        I can read 1-n and n+EOF lines but n itself is corrupt.) More/less
        lets me read 1-n, but tail won't let me go back far enough.
        (tail -100000 and tail -3000 are equivalent because of the buffer)
        \_ you could pipe it through a perl script that reads the file
           backwards, i can write a multi line one, maybe one of the perl
           geeks around here will post a 1-liner.
           \_ Thanks! I found a PM called File::ReadBackwards that worked.
           \- hello, you can use the "tac" command or sed '1\!G;h;$\!d' --psb
              \_ Tac looks cool, but seems to be a Linuxism. It's not on
                 soda, for instance. (Yes, it could be ported.)
                 \-tac is a random hack that probably predates linux.
                   portability is why i added the sed cmd. --psb
        \_ if you use 'less +G' it doesn't actually try to figure out line
            numbers, it just goes to the end of the file. You can then scroll
            back ward normally. -ERic
            \_ I tried this and it did not work. I went to the end of the
               file, but when I tried to scroll back it attempted to
               calculate line numbers even when told not to.