title: Is there a way to use uniq to compare only the first n characters?
body: <p>According to the documentation, </p>
  
  <p><a href="http://www.computerhope.com/unix/uuniq.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.computerhope.com/unix/uuniq.htm</a></p>
  
  <p>The command can be used to ignore the first n characters</p>
  
  <p>Suppose I wish to have the following</p>
  
  <pre><code>03/08/2002,2,HUST,RICC,53.0,,2.3,J S BULLARD,,2,2,3/3,46.0,,,
  03/08/2002,2,HUST,RICC,53.0,,WON,M J WALKER,,10,1,2/2,49.5,,,
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Matched as identical based on the first 20 characters.  Is there a way to do this?  </p>