CHAPTER 10
Command-Line Beginner’s Class
IN THIS CHAPTER
What Is the Command Line?
Accessing the Command Line
User Accounts
Reading Documentation
Understanding the Linux File System Hierarchy
Navigating the Linux File System
Working with Permissions
Working with Files
Working as Root
Commonly Used Commands and Programs
References
The Linux command line is one of the most powerful tools available for
computer system administration and maintenance. The command line is also
known as the terminal, shell, console, command prompt, and command-line
interface (CLI). For the purposes of this chapter and the next, these terms are
interchangeable, although fine-grained differences do exist between them.
Using the command line is an efficient way to perform complex tasks
accurately and much more easily than it would seem at a first glance.
Knowledge of the commands available to you and also how to string them
together makes using Ubuntu easier for many tasks. Many of the commands
were created by the GNU Project as free software analogs to previously
existing proprietary UNIX commands. You can learn more about the GNU
Project at www.gnu.org/gnu/thegnuproject.html.