How does `w` differ from `who`?

That's a very perceptive question! While both commands tell you who is logged in, they provide different levels of detail. Think of who as a simple list and w as a detailed status report.

Here are the main differences:

1. The who Command (The "Simple List")

The who command is quite basic. It typically shows:

• User name
• Terminal name (the "line" they are on)
• Login time
• Remote hostname (if they logged in via a network)

Example output:

labex    pts/0        2025-12-24 20:06

2. The w Command (The "Detailed Summary")

The w command is more powerful. It combines the information from who, uptime, and information about what users are actually doing. It shows:

• System Summary: The current time, how long the system has been running, how many users are logged in, and the "load average" (how busy the computer is).
• Idle Time: How long it has been since the user typed anything.
• JCPU/PCPU: Technical details about how much CPU power the user's processes are using.
• WHAT: This is the most useful part—it shows the actual command or process the user is currently running.

Example output:

 20:10:46 up 111 days,  3:31,  1 user,  load average: 1.25, 0.58, 0.32
USER     TTY      FROM             LOGIN@   IDLE   JCPU   PCPU WHAT
labex    pts/0    172.17.0.1       20:06    0.00s  0.02s  0.00s w

Summary Comparison:

In short: Use who if you just want to see a quick roster of names. Use w if you want to know what's happening on the system and how busy it is!