Hello Everyone

[darshikj1120]

Hi everyone,

 

My name is Darshik and I am using Ubuntu. I recently started studying networking, and I am quite interested in understading Linux.

 

I would want to start with the basic stuff like the commands which are most commonly used. Or perhaps installing softwares apart from the ones available in the software center.

 

I would also like to learn more about the terminal. How to use, when to use it. I will try and spend as much time as possible here considering this is only a beginning for me and there is lot more to learn about linux.

 

 

Thank you!

 

Darshik

 

[inittux]

Hey Darshik,

 

Welcome to the forums! Ubuntu is a great start to learn about linux. Linux is all about trying things out, and doing. That's how you make mistakes and learn from your mistakes. Some usefull stuff to know.

You can install software via de command line aka terminal: sudo apt-get install package name,  or you can search the repository via apt-cache search keyword. You can update you local repos via sudo apt-get update, and then sudo apt-get upgrade to install the upgrade packages.

 

Another usefull thing in linux is the online manuals. you can do basically command man, an example would be man ls. The ls command is a command that lists what you directory you specify or the directory you're in. Also another thing I would advise is to use virtual software, such as virtualbox or kvm. That way you can install virtual machines on your host machine and try out different linux distros or install a test ubuntu machine and try out stuff without doing damage to your desktop install.  Great to have you!  And if you have any questions be sure to ask! And welcome to linux fun! :)

[hybrid]

Welcome Darshik; it's great to have you here! :)

 

When first investigating the terminal, doing some simple file management is often a good place to start. If you open up the Terminal, you'll be in your home folder normally, which we represent with a ~ character. You might see in the terminal window something like:

 

your_username@your_machinename:~$

 

This is the prompt -- and the ~ tells us we are in your home folder.

 

The $ just tells us that the prompt is finished; the next thing you type will be a command. So, when you see a $ sign in people's tutorials involving the command line (like my snippets below), that means you don't type it in. It's just there to show you which bits are commands (lines that start with $) and which bits aren't!

 

The first command to explore is pwd, which stands for print working directory. This tells you, more clearly than the ~, which folder you're currently in. I might see this:

 

 

Code:

$ pwd
/home/hybrid

 

To see the contents of the current working directory, we can use ls to get a list:

 

 

Code:

$ ls

 

(You'll see what's in your home directory.)

 

If I want to move into another folder, I use cd (for change directory):

 

 

Code:

$ cd Documents

 

(you may have to spell it with the right capitalisation, too!)

 

Now, pwd again shows I have moved:

 

 

Code:

$ pwd
/home/hybrid/Documents

 

We can create an empty file by touching it. After typing the name of the touch program, I press space, and the next thing it expects is the name of the file to create or update. I'll make one called new_document.

 

 

Code:

$ touch new_document

 

(I'm avoiding the complications of files with spaces and special characters in them for now!)

 

To see the files in this folder, I can, again, ls it:

 

 

Code:

$ ls

 

The new file should appear in the list!

 

You could also play with cp for copying the file, or even a simple text editor in the command line like nano (the keyboard shortcuts are listed at the bottom of the screen, where ^ means Ctrl+. So, to quit nano, you press Ctrl+X.)

 

If you have any particular ideas about where you want to go next with the command line, let's hear 'em! We'd love for you to share your experiences with learning this cool stuff. :)

[samsmith]

Hello everyone