Simplifying getting started with the Command Line

[Joel Pickett]

I guess there are some people out there that think the command-line way is
the bee's knees in terms of "CLI vs. GUI". I, for one, don't share this
view and simply think of the idea that you use the tool that's best for
the job.

Compared to many people on this list, I'd class myself as a novice CLI
user. The way I did it was learning the basic commands to get you around
the filesystem:

ls, cd, ls -l, tar, sudo, man, cp, mv, rm, mkdir, apt-get, grep, touch,
nano, vi (trying to learn) etc.

And up until this point I haven't really felt the need to learn any more.
I like adding commands to my "toolchain" as the need arises. You pick up
things here and there but you learn to use them by simply using them.

Try to take it slow. I don't know where you're up to at the moment but I
tried to install/remove applications via apt-get rather than add/remove or
synaptic. Sure, you'll think it takes longer to do it the CLI way but
after you get the gist of the commands and their options, it'll be more
enjoyable and take less time.

Learn to use/rely on tab complete where possible. I remember being a
noobfessional when I was trying to install Mediawiki as a local install.
Try typing out tar xvzf mediawiki-1.9.2-3ubuntu4~svn20100323.2-34  etc etc
with errors being spat out. It's a tough road but it's worth it.

I use irssi and mplayer just because it's easier and quicker than to use a
GUI application. Personal taste though...


> Hi Group,
>
> When I started out with Linux I knew the real gurus used the command line
> and that it was really powerful etc etc as I'd read a lot of magazines etc
> that kept promoting it. The problem was and still is that when you open a
> terminal you are met with a prompt and a flashing cursor and the rest of
> the
> screen is blank.
>
> I knew about the man pages but that just frustrated me more. 1 of my
> friends
> is a long time Linux user and I would say to him "Whats the point of
> having
> the man pages when I don't know what the commands are to start with?" I
> can
> hardly type $ man <command> if I don't know the command now can I?
>
> Anyway my point is this. After almost 12 months of frustration I finally
> found out about the man -k <keyword> command. I couldn't understand why
> this
> wasn't displayed in a new terminal above the prompt so you could see it
> the
> first time you logged in. Then I also found the apropos command.
>
> Is there a reason the Linux community makes it so hard to learn the
> command
> line?
>
> What I propose is a simple "First time here? try man -k <keyword> to get
> you
> started"
>
> Is this a possibility?
>
> --
> Regards
>
> Nathaniel
>
> http://about.me/nathanieloffer
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