The Linux Command Line: A Complete Introduction
- 6h 58m
- William E. Shotts, Jr.
- No Starch Press
- 2012
You've experienced the shiny, point-and-click surface of your Linux computer—now dive below and explore its depths with the power of the command line.
The Linux Command Line takes you from your very first terminal keystrokes to writing full programs in Bash, the most popular Linux shell. Along the way you'll learn the timeless skills handed down by generations of gray-bearded, mouse-shunning gurus: file navigation, environment configuration, command chaining, pattern matching with regular expressions, and more.
In addition to that practical knowledge, author William Shotts reveals the philosophy behind these tools and the rich heritage that your desktop Linux machine has inherited from Unix supercomputers of yore.
As you make your way through the book's short, easily-digestible chapters, you'll learn how to:
- Create and delete files, directories, and symlinks
- Administer your system, including networking, package installation, and process management
- Use standard input and output, redirection, and pipelines
- Edit files with Vi, the world's most popular text editor
- Write shell scripts to automate common or boring tasks
- Slice and dice text files with cut, paste, grep, patch, and sed
Once you overcome your initial "shell shock," you'll find that the command line is a natural and expressive way to communicate with your computer. Just don't be surprised if your mouse starts to gather dust.
About the Author
William E. Shotts, Jr. has been a software professional and avid Linux user for more than 15 years. He has an extensive background in software development, including technical support, quality assurance, and documentation. He is also the creator of LinuxCommand.org, a Linux education and advocacy site featuring news, reviews, and extensive support for using the Linux command line.
In this Book
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The Linux Command Line—A Complete Introduction
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What Is the Shell?
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Navigation
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Exploring the System
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Manipulating Files and Directories
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Working with Commands
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Redirection
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Seeing the World as the Shell Sees It
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Advanced Keyboard Tricks
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Permissions
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Processes
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The Environment
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A Gentle Introduction to vi
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Customizing the Prompt
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Package Management
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Storage Media
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Networking
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Searching for Files
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Archiving and Backup
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Regular Expressions
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Text Processing
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Formatting Output
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Printing
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Compiling Programs
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Writing Your First Script
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Starting a Project
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Top-Down Design
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Flow Control: Branching with if
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Reading Keyboard Input
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Flow Control: Looping with while and until
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Troubleshooting
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Flow Control: Branching with case
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Positional Parameters
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Flow Control: Looping with for
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Strings and Numbers
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Arrays
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Exotica
