# tail perl -ne '$i=$.%5; $a[$i]=$_; END{print @a[$i+1..$#a,0..$i]}' file perl -ne 'END{print@a[$i+1..$#a,0..$i]}$a[$i=$.%5]=$_' file perl -ne 'END{print@a[$i+1..@a,0..$i]}$a[$i=$.%5]=$_' file perl -pe '$a[$i=$.%5]=$_}{print@a[$i+1..@a,0..$i]' file perl -pe '$_[$==$.%5]=$_}{print@_[$=+1..@_,0..$=]' file