The purpose of the W utility in Linux

The W utility in Linux is a command-line utility that allows you to view information about current system users and their activity.

What information does w output?

When you run the w command in the terminal, it outputs the following information:

1. User name: The name of the user under which the user logged in.
2. Terminal: The terminal through which the user logged in.
3. Status: The current status of the user (for example, "loaded" or "free").
4. Login time: the time when the user logged in.
5. Activity time: The time that the user has spent in the system since logging in.
6. CPU usage: The percentage of CPU usage by the user.
7. MEM usage: The percentage of memory usage by the user.

The W utility also shows general information about the system, such as the current time, system uptime, number of users, and average CPU usage. W can be useful for monitoring user activity on the system, tracking the resources used by each user, and to determine who is currently in the system.

Additional information about the parameters and use of the W utility can be found in the user manual or by running the man w command in the terminal. It is included in most distributions and does not require installation.