You can use broadcast addresses in nc, like with any other utility: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadcast_address http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadcast_addres

You can use broadcast addresses in nc, like with any other utility: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadcast_address http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadcast_address The comment itself suggested that the person didn't read the manpage (saw that the synopsis said `hostname` and concluded that it didnt support ip address). That seems like a pretty uninformed reading of the manpage. More generally it's frustrating when self-proclaimed experts don't know all of the command options (hard to be an expert without knowing what's going on). I've done interviews where a candidate claims to be an expert with XYZ tool and not know the most common features.