GNU/Linux 101 - The beginners guide

Most crucial commands about Linux and the bash

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GNU/Linux 101

Most crucial commands about Linux and the bash

Every new GNU/Linux user has to get to know several commands. The file system differs from Windows, but is similar to the Mac OS. I will take you by the hand and show you step by step everything you have to know.

Open the Bash

The BASH or also known as TERMINAL is the place to be. The terminal unites your desktop, file manager, text editor and many more. Furthermore you can install or uninstall programs, configure your system, start webservers and so one. Hopefully you have recognized the fundamental super power of the secret Pandora's box ... the so called terminal.

If you are using a Raspbian Desktop, click on the black screen icon in the upper panel bar titled LXTerminal.

First view

pi@raspberrypi ~ $

cd Change the directory

Directories are your folders like "Downloads", "Desktop" etc. Every system has a root directory. The beginning of every path starts in there and is callable by /.

pi@raspberrypi ~ $ cd /

Change directory to / -> Bring me to the root directory

And you can see, that the beginning of your command line changed to something similiar like pi@raspberrypi / $. The only difference is that ~ changed to /.

ls List content of the current directory

You have seen that your command line is something like a magnifiying glass on a specific folder or rather directory. Every command you will type in the terminal will have its starting point from there. If you have follwed the previous parts you are currently in the root directory /.

Now type in just the these two single letters: ls

pi@raspberrypi / $ ls

The output should be exactly like here:

bin  boot  dev  etc  home  lib  lost+found  media  mnt  opt  proc  root  run  sbin  selinux  srv  sys  tmp  usr  var

These terms are mostly directories. ls lists all directories and files included in the current path you are.