Where is my xcalc?

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When my department recently upgraded our Linux installations from Fedora Core 4 to Fedora Core 5, I noticed a glaring absence in the software installed. No, it wasn't that gcc decided to enforce lesser-known properties of the C standard (that happened in the transition from 3 to 4), and it wasn't that emacs had been replaced with vi. The missing program, however, was one of utmost importance: xcalc.

Xcalc is one of those handy little programs that doesn't do anything that complicated and doesn't seem like much of anything, but that you come to rely upon to do effectively do your job. Sure, I could have just used bc, but it just doesn't have the same feel. I want, and need, something that works and looks like a calculator.

After months of piddling around, sulking about my loss, someone pointed out what turns out to be an acceptable alternative: gcalctool. Sure, it's got a stupid, overly complex name, but it works about the same as xcalc and I think I can move on with it by my side. But, I'll never forget xcalc and the many times we spent together. In order to pay homage to my old friend, I setup an alias that launches gcalctool whenever I enter the command xcalc. It helps me get through the pain of my loss and I think xcalc would have wanted it this way.

So how do you setup a similar alias? Put this command in the startup script for your shell:

alias xcalc gcalctool