We use socat to buffer logs sent from containers (docker-compose) during the short window at startup where logstash and elasticsearch are not ready yet. Works great!
Similar: using it to get syslog out of self-chrooting ssh with minimal trauma:
socat -u UNIX-RECV:/home/sftponly/user/dev/log,mode=666 UNIX-SENDTO:/dev/log
It's also an CLI IMAPS client, with history:
socat READLINE,history=$HOME/.imaps_history EXEC:'"openssl s_client -connect mailserver:993"'
or a CLI web browser with history:
socat -d -d READLINE,history=$HOME/.http_history TCP4:www.domain.com:www,crnl
or, if you have to interact with something that has no readline, say sendmail:
socat READLINE EXEC:"sendmail -bt"
