output manipulation

When working with text data or terminal outputs in Linux, formatting the data for better readability and analysis can often become necessary. Two powerful yet underutilized utilities that assist with this task are column and nl. These tools help in structuring the outputs effectively, making them easier to read and understand. This article explores how you can manipulate output using these tools and explains how to install them using different package managers like apt, dnf, and zypper. column is a utility that formats its input into multiple columns. Rows are filled before columns; you simply pipe output into column and it presents it in a nicely formatted table format.