sed

cd /media
file1
I own a coat
sed -e 's/coat/bag/g' file1
I own a bag
cat file1
I own a coat
sed -e 's/coat/bag/g' file1 > file1a
cat file1a
cat file2
I own two bags and one coat
sed -e 's/bag/dog/g' -e 's/coat/cat/g' file2
I own two dogs and one cat
sed -e 's/bag/dog/g' -e 's/coat/cat/g' file2 > file2a
cat file2a
I own two dogs and one cat
cp /etc/passwd /etc/passwdCopy
touch example
mkdir users
gedit example &
sed -e 's/home/users/g' /etc/passwd
gedit example &
sed -e 's/home/users/g' /etc/passwd
chmod 755 example
./example
gedit example &
sed -e 's/home/users/g' /etc/passwd /etc/passwdTmp
./example
cat /etc/passwdTmp
gedit example &
sed -e 's/home/users/g' /etc/passwd /etc/passwdTmp
rm /etc/passwd
cp /etc/passwdTmp /etc/passwd
rm /etc/passwdTmp
./example
cat /etc/passwd
cp example example2
gedit example2 &
sed -e 's/users/home/g' /etc/passwd /etc/passwdTmp
rm /etc/passwd

cp /etc/passwdTmp /etc/passwd
rm /etc/passwdTmp
./example
cat /etc/passwd
gedit example &
sed -e 's/home/users/g' /etc/passwd /etc/passwdTmp
rm /etc/passwd
cp /etc/passwdTmp /etc/passwd
rm /etc/passwdTmp
cd /home
mv * /users/
./example
Test above:
su alice
cd
pwd
/users/alice
Bring them back again:
gedit example2 &
sed -e 's/users/home/g' /etc/passwd /etc/passwdTmp
rm /etc/passwd
cp /etc/passwdTmp /etc/passwd
rm /etc/passwdTmp
cd /users
mv * /home/
sed -e 's/bash/sh/g' /etc/passwd