A Beginner's Guide to Linux
What is Linux? Linux is an operating system, which is intended to be used as an alternative to other operating systems, such as Windows or Mas OS. Linux acts as an interface between computer/server hardware and the programs which run on it. It can be used for general purpose use on desktops and servers, computer architecture support, embedded systems, security, and support for real-time applications. Having a working understanding of Linux is very important in the LTC. Students use Linux to maintain their webpage; webpages include at the very least: a biography, research journal, and report. The hostname for the server in the LTC is laser.physics.sunysb.edu and student's username will generally be their first name. We use the Bash interface. We also use SSH, secure shell client, a cryptographic network protocol, which can be to communicate securely and transfer files between two networked computers. Anyone with an active Stony Brook NetID can download SSH for free. Directory- a collection of files that are all in on place; can tell you are in directory if command line starts with a d [It is important to note that the parent is unique to a directory meaning you cannot travel "sideways", you can only go up and down] Command line- where the user issues commands to the program in the form of successive lines of text as a means of interacting with a computer program A good 'dictionary' of commands can be found at this website. A basic, although sometimes confusing tutorial about Linux for beginners can be found here. Also if you ever are on another student's website and they have done something, say created a table, that you would like to do, you can ctrl click or right click and choose view source code to see the code they used to create their webpage. Past LTC researcher, Azure Hansen also compiled a list of Linux commands.
enter- enters command cd directoryname- changes(opens) directory ls -l- displays all of the files in a directory pico filename- opens/creates file tab- completes filename (if filename is unique) mv filename- moves file cd ..- move up a directory up and down arrows- scroll through past commands cp filename- copy file more- displays output one more screen at a time mkdir directory name- creates new directory ctrl & d- logout
ctrl & o- save without exiting file ctrl & x- save and exit file ctrl & ins- copy shift & ins- paste < a href="websiteurl.html" >words< /a >- links to a website < img src="filename.html">- inserts picture
ctrl & a- brings cursor to the beginning of the line ctrl & e- brings cursor to the end of the line ctrl & w word- search a file for a word ctrl & k- cut a line of text ctrl & u- uncut text ctrl & t- spell check [WARNING: will spell check commands as well]
For all of the commands below, the spaces should be removed < i>word< /i>- italic < b>word< /b>- bold < u>word< /u>- underline < hr>-adds a divider line < font color=color>word< /font color>- changes font color (ex. < font color=red>word< /font color> becomes word) < font size=#>text< /font size>- changes the font size of your text < sup>word or number< /sup>- superscript word or number < sub>word or number< /sub>- subscript word or number < h#>text< /h#>- changes text to different heading style (1 through 3 should be set up for you account) < center, left, or right>text< /center, right, or left>- aligns text to left, right, or center
ON MACS:
ON PCS:
< li>< p>- creates new entry in list < ol> < li>< p>- creates numbered list; used for bibliographies < /ol>
& letteracute;- adds acute symbol over the letter (ex. & eacute; becomes é) & greekletter;- writes symbol for greek letter (ex. & mu; becomes μ) |