Easier than what?!

Easier than

awk '{ print $1, $6}' /etc/passwd

awk -F: '{ print $1, $6}' /etc/passwd

sed is not the appropriate tool for this job, although it can do it, but the code it produce is ugly and hard to read due to extensive (or abusive) use of regex. Use awk and break the file rows into pieces using delimiters. That's the easiest way it can be.

I agree with ghostdog. In situations where there is a clear field oriented format awk solutions usually provide more straightforward code. I disagree about the supposed ugliness and hard to read regex (and I do not get the abuse bit), but I like regex.

you can take it that i mean hard to read and forget about the word "ugliness". regex is sure powerful, but too much of it in one place makes your code "hard to read". Its like reading an essay with words encoded in numbers. that's what i meant.

Ofcourse awk is better. Wanted to know how to use sed as an option