Don't Fear the Dark

Terminal

If your heart races and feel an overwhelming urge to run screaming in the opposite direction should you see the above image on your computer, you might be suffering from terminal illness.  Ba dump bump. (A little 'nux geek humor for you.) Terminal being the correct word to describe the little black box that enables a Linux user to issue commands to the computer and otherwise interface directly with the operating system (OS).  

Although terminal is a fundamental facet of using a Linux box, you can probably get away with not having to use it, but quite frankly, I don't know why you would want to because for (1) If you are that squeamish, then you should return to Windows, and, (2) terminal is the best part of using the OS. To use a motor vehicle analogy, terminal is the difference between driving stick versus automatic. The former enabling the user to fully maximize the experience versus passively chugging along content to let the motor make all of the decisions.

That being said, let's get comfortable and try out terminal with some basic commands.

Start An App

Whereas in Windows, launching a program is performed by either finding it in the Start menu or double-clicking on the shortcut on the desktop (assuming there is one), however, in Linux, you can start an app such as Firefox, which comes pre-installed in most Linux distros.

Open a terminal window by pressing CTRL + ALT + T. 

Type in terminal:

firefox

Then hit enter.

After a brief pause,the browser will open. Contrary to the herd of Linux users, Firefox is not my preferred browser.  Google Chrome and/or the free open source version Chromium is, but installing either is another lesson.

Now that Firefox has been launched, close it out and let's try to not only open the browser but also include a web page while we're at it.

Type in terminal:

firefox greensleevesbikinit.blogspot.com

[Note:  There is a space between the x and g.] Then hit enter.

Don't be alarmed if Firefox takes its sweet time to open.  (This is yet another reason why I won't use it.)

Telling Linux What To Do

Although I've said that you could probably get away with not using terminal, the fact is, it is a very big part of operations are performed there, so get used to it.

Let's take a look at how the file system works, shall we?

In terminal, type in pwd, which stands for print working directory.  (BTW, we're not actually printing anything.)

When you do, you will see something similar to the following:

/home/name of your login

This is the directory where terminal is currently located.  To see what directories are there, type in the letters 

ls

Then hit enter.

This will list everything in your home directory usually containing: 

Desktop

Documents

Downloads

Music

Pictures 

Videos

We need to grasp the concept of flags before we continue. Flags are options that are attached to a command to extend it to accomplish another task at the same time.  For example, when you typed ls, you could have also included the flag -a to include all.

ls -a

Hit enter.  

When you do this, you will see the same folders you did above, but now included will also be folders that begin with a dot.

A single dot denotes a hidden file.  These are not displayed by default for the same reason Windows does not display hidden files in Windows Explorer.  (You wouldn't want to give a live grenade to a chimp, would you?)  Actually, I'm kidding.  In Linux, you run as a superuser rather than root (Administrator) by default to protect you from yourself. 

Changing Directories

If you type cd in terminal, nothing will happen.  The cursor will bounce to another line and blink at you waiting for a flag so type the following:

cd /usr/bin

Then hit enter.  [Note: there is a space between the d and forward slash /].

Now we're in /usr/bin.  To see which folders are located there type in:

ls

Make sure you exit this terminal and open another before attempting the next section.

Updating Linux

This is an action that you should always perform before installing any programs just to make sure you have the latest & greatest drivers.

In terminal, type in:

sudo apt-get update

Then hit enter.  Make sure you have a space between the o and a.  

Type in your password.  Linux won't let you proceed until you do.

Incidentally, if you're wondering what sudo means, it stands for superuser do.

Let terminal do its thing.  When it finishes updating quit terminal by typing in the word exit and hitting enter.

Now that you have a basic understanding of terminal, study this tutorial of commands and keyboard shortcuts to help familiarize you with your system.

Remember: Linux is supposed to be fun so don't stress if you can't remember everything.  The more time you spend with the OS, the more you will retain. Learn a few basics and bookmark the tutorial for future reference.

©2014 Greensleeves and GreensleevesBikinIt.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog's author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is giving to Greensleevs and GreensleevesBikinIt with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Managing with Mint

Linux Mint 16

For the uninitiated Windows user, the Linux operating system remains an enigma - little more than a mysterious system fraught with a seemingly unfamiliar GUI.  Incidentally, as a Windows user, this really shouldn't frighten you since Microsoft has been screwing with the Start button since Windows 7, but I digress. 

Linux also has the ever-scary command prompt.  (Cue the theme from Twilight Zone.) But this concern is negligible.  Linux has come a long way since the days of navigation exclusively via terminal. You can still use Bash to your heart's content if that's what puts you in your happy place, but as to the rest of us, contemporary distros have enjoyed a graphical user interface very similar to the Windows kind for years. 

As a young techie in 1999, I was immediately taken with the OS based on functionality alone.  Compared with Linux, Windows is positively neutered.  Now the average Windows user, who seems to be blissfully ignorant to the extent that s/he doesn't want to bother looking under the hood, but rather, simply enjoys putting gas in the car and driving away, any given Linux distro probably won't be very enticing.  That's OK, the world needs ditch diggers too! (Gratuitous Linux user barb.) But to anyone who wants to have more control of his/her operating system, as well as a much wider selection of software that is not only free, but open source as well, then Linux is yer huckleberry.

While I have been experimenting with Linux for years, it was only recently that I decided to commit to an installation of a distro on my hard drive.  To be brutally honest, this was a direct result of Microsoft's inexplicably obtuse decision to end support for XP, an operating system that has been around since 2001 and has been powering everything on the planet from individual personal computers to industry specific operations including but not limited to -ATM, POS, banking, and gas pumps.  Microsoft apparently assumed (and correctly) that it would strong-arm the world into using its spectacularly crapparific Windows 8 system, which, I suspect, most XP users would have gladly shelled out the extra jack to upgrade (if not purchase an entirely new computer) had MS offered a discount for the trouble of migrating. But lo, ever the font of consummate corporatocracy that it is, nary a discount could be had. And that's OK because for every consumer who didn't bother to check out alternatives to Windows and instead blindly consented to the shake-down, there were also those of us who extended middle finger and hopped off that carousel.

Suffice it to say, I'm still using Windows (7 to be exact) but decided that this was the year I was going to have a dual-boot box so that I could transition over to Linux and leave MS behind in the dust where it rightfully belongs.  As an aside here, I retained Windows 7 (1) because it works (compared to version 8 which doesn't) and (2) because I still have Windows-based games I am loath to give up, not to mention a dinosaur multi-function printer, the likes of which only the scanner still works but, try as I may, cannot seem to get any drivers for it to work in Linux.  And that's OK too since some incompatibility was expected.  As awesome as Linux is, caveat remains that there are still some programs/hardware that cannot be easily transitioned into a Linux environment. But don't let this deter you as Linux repositories of drivers grows exponentially daily. (This means even more drivers for formerly Windows-only supported software/hardware is boarding the Linux Express rapidly.)  As you begin to go to Linux more frequently, you'll start questioning why you ever thought staying in an abusive relationship with Microsoft was worth the effort (and expense.)

While I have evaluated several different distros, including Ubuntu, which is currently enjoying widespread usage, I chose Mint (Cinnamon edition) since it had the most resonance with me. (You can find all the latest distros here.) 

Evaluating a distro is shockingly simple.  All it takes is the ability to download a file, burn it to a CD/DVD and then boot up the computer from the CD/DVD-ROM drive (which involves during the boot up stage hitting either the F12 key (on most Dell brand systems) or for other systems the F3 key, and selecting boot from CD-ROM drive.) Voila! Then she will boot up from the disc drive and you can kick the tires and check out the upholstery.  If you later decide that you also want a dual-boot system then you have the option to install straight from the Live Demo disc, which, is also an astonishingly simple endeavor since the included software does all the work of partitioning your hard drive (once you decide how much space to allot to the Linux partition.)  **Note here that mileage may and does vary so be sure to conduct your own research OR you can just contact yours truly and I will gladly walk you through the install for an hourly fee.**  (Hey, I have to pay rent and eat too, you know.)

Good luck and enjoy your newly found freedoms from the shackles of Microsoft.


©2014 Greensleeves and GreensleevesBikinIt.  Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog's author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.  Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is giving to Greensleevs and GreensleevesBikinIt with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.