I always use pv when I want to monitor a long running operation, mainly because it shows the rate of progress as well as the ETA for the operation (of course, t

I always use pv when I want to monitor a long running operation, mainly because it shows the rate of progress as well as the ETA for the operation (of course, this is an estimate, but it's still useful). 'man pv' is a short read and is something anyone who want to monitor such things should read.