FIGURE 1.6 Software Updater, showing available software updates.
Another way of updating your system is to use the command line. This is vital
on servers that do not have a GUI installed, and it is sometimes quicker than
using Software Updater on a desktop computer. I like to use the command
line to manage all the computers on my home network because I can use
Secure Shell (SSH) to connect to each from a terminal and perform updates
from another room in the house; anyone using that computer is left
undisturbed while I’m making updates. You find out how to connect using the
command line in Chapter 19, “Remote Access with SSH, Telnet, and VNC.”
NOTE
In the second half of the “Software Updater” section and in “The sudo
Command” section that follows, we introduce some commands that must
be entered from the command line, also known as the terminal. Rather than
a graphics-based user interface, the command line is a more traditional
text-based user interface. Chapter 10, “Command-Line Beginner’s Class,”
Chapter 11, “Command-Line Master Class, Part 1,” and Chapter 12,
“Command-Line Master Class, Part 2,” cover this topic is much greater
detail.
For now, the goal is to introduce you to the idea and let you know what can
be done. You are not yet expected to know what a lot of this means.