What's the best way to learn the command console?

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Blackfish
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What's the best way to learn the command console?

#1 Post by Blackfish »

I am off and running with great success with Puppy Linux 5.7.1. I have zero problems understanding how to get things done, and every time I sit down to work with any of my Linux installations (Puppy; openSUSE; UBUNTU; MINT) I am 100% productive. Whether it's installing one of them, connecting to the Internet -- whatever task I need to complete--it's just a breeze for me. Thanks, Linux!

As for Puppy, I installed him on a big flash drive and simply run him from there, saving all my files and sessions as I get my work done. Then I unplug Puppy and put him in a safe place -- and that's that. I absolutely love it. It's a dream come true for me. I have wanted something like this ever since I started using computers.

I suppose, the next logical thing to do here is learn the command line? That would be my best guess. I started out a couple of weeks ago, before I found Puppy, learning a few simple commands on openSUSE, UBUNTU, and MINT. Then I got to Puppy, and I notice that for some of these operating systems, the terminal looks quite different. For example, with Puppy, all I see when opening up the console is, #. And with openSUSE it's something else, and with UBUNTU it's a / and a tilda, and so on (I may not have remembered the commands and comments the way I saw them, but you get the idea... I have no idea what I am doing!).

I tried learning some simple commands, like poweroff, halt, and etc. I entered them in openSUSE the way I started to learn them, and they worked fine. Then, going to another operating system, I put in the commands the way I learned them and--no love. For example, I tried poweroff with Puppy, and I get a comment, "must be root". I thought root was a forward slash, and so I put a forward slash in front of it, and it then tells me there is no such command. Yikes! I am frustrated and confused. Is there anyone who can help? What is the best way for this absolute newbie to learn Linux commands? Do I need to stick with one operating system until I get the hang of it? Is that the best way? What about learning materials? What is the best book to read or video to watch or tutorial to help me get the hang of it? It's been a couple of weeks now, and this is getting quite nerve wracking. I need to make some progress soon or I'm just gonna lose all hope (actually, I won't lose all hope, but that's what it feels like). Any good help out there?


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Blackfish
Posts: 324
Joined: Wed 26 Feb 2014, 15:36
Location: Brookings, SD

Progress!

#3 Post by Blackfish »

Semme, thanks for the links and the help. In addition to the cool stuff you have posted here, I have gone elsewhere to learn more about Command Line Interface. A piece here and a piece there is helping me piece it all together and start to get the job done. I am rolling.

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8-bit
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#4 Post by 8-bit »

Maybe too many Linux versions? In Puppy, unless you changed to user Spot, the poweroff command from a terminal should work since by default, in Puppy one runs as user root.

musher0
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#5 Post by musher0 »

Hello, BlackFish.

The answer to your question is... practice! ;)

Best regards.

musher0
musher0
~~~~~~~~~~
"You want it darker? We kill the flame." (L. Cohen)

amigo
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#6 Post by amigo »

Lesson 1. What does 'root' mean?
There are three things about Linux/UNIX called root:
a. the user with the login name 'root' -usually the sys admin.
b. The user root's HOME folder is usually '/root' The slash means that is the path to the folder.
c. The root of the file system/partition is '/' -pronounced 'root'.

The verb 'rooting' refers to gaining control of an android device -usually by re-flashing the boot ROM of the device.

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Blackfish
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I've Found That Out

#7 Post by Blackfish »

musher0 wrote:Hello, BlackFish.

The answer to your question is... practice! ;)

Best regards.

musher0
Yes, I've found that out. I find that a piece from here and a bit from there is the way to go. And doing the same things over and over again to memorize the processes always leads to more understanding and a better command of the subject.

Thanks!

musher0
Posts: 14629
Joined: Mon 05 Jan 2009, 00:54
Location: Gatineau (Qc), Canada

#8 Post by musher0 »

Hello again, BlackFish.

Ah yes, the memory -- the intellectual faculty that forgets!...

It helps me to have by my computer a little notepad, in which I write down new commands,
handy tricks, etc., as I try them. Other people use a daily log book in which they write:
"Today, I experimented with this sequence, with these results."

Console commands cover many subjects, we can't expect to remember everything.

BFN.

musher0
musher0
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"You want it darker? We kill the flame." (L. Cohen)

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don570
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#9 Post by don570 »

Don't forget to install Bash manual

Available here...

http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=80501

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