I like using paste to sum over numbers where each number is in a distinct line. E.g.: printf "1\n2\n3" | paste -sd+ | bc 6 I suppose you could do tha

I like using paste to sum over numbers where each number is in a distinct line. E.g.: printf "1\n2\n3" | paste -sd+ | bc 6 I suppose you could do that more cleanly with awk, but this has worked whenever I needed it. I find it easier to type.