Penguin

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Newer page: version 17 Last edited on Wednesday, November 15, 2006 8:58:02 am by IanMcDonald
Older page: version 16 Last edited on Tuesday, November 14, 2006 11:33:15 pm by DavidMurrell Revert
@@ -1,25 +1,25 @@
-* The [Linux] equivalent of MicrosoftWindows' <tt>ipconfig</tt> command is ifconfig(8). 
+* The [Linux] equivalent of MicrosoftWindows' <tt>ipconfig</tt> command is [ ifconfig(8)]
 * The (8) in the above line refers to the manual page for ifconfig in manual section 8, accessible by typing <tt>man 8 ifconfig</tt> 
 ** Other man pages can be accessed by typing <tt>man command</tt> (See <tt>man man</tt> for the man manual) 
 ** Man pages are searchable, type <tt>man -k keyword</tt> to search the man pages containing that keyword. Think of it as a pre google, google search. 
  
 * Global system configuration files are in the <tt>/etc</tt> directory. 
  
 * Under [Debian]-based distributions (such as Debian Sarge, [Ubuntu], etc): 
-** Install [Deb] Packages using <tt>dpkg -i filename</tt>. See dpkg(8). 
+** Install [Deb] Packages using <tt>dpkg -i filename</tt>. See [ dpkg(8)]
 ** To search for packages available on your distribution, use <tt>aptitude search name</tt> 
 ** To install a package, and any other packages it depends on, use <tt>aptitude install name</tt> 
 ** Note that names are case insensitive, and contain no spaces. Try doing a substring search if you can't find it at first. Debian has over 15000 packages, so there is a good chance it already has what you want. 
  
 * Under RedHat-based distributions: 
-** Install [RPM] [Package]s using <tt>rpm -Uvh filename</tt>. See rpm(8). 
+** Install [RPM] [Package]s using <tt>rpm -Uvh filename</tt>. See [ rpm(8)]
 ** RedHat based systems now offer better PackageManagementTools such as AptForRpm or [Yum]. Use them instead of manually finding .rpms and installing them 
  
-* Use <tt>tar xzvf filename</tt> to decompress a <tt>.tar.gz</tt> or <tt>.tgz</tt> file, otherwise known as a TarBall. See tar(1)  
-* Use <tt>tar xjvf filename</tt> to decompress a <tt>.tar.bz2</tt> also known as a TarBall. See tar(1) 
+* Use <tt>tar xzvf filename</tt> to decompress a <tt>.tar.gz</tt> or <tt>.tgz</tt> file, otherwise known as a TarBall. See [ tar(1)]  
+* Use <tt>tar xjvf filename</tt> to decompress a <tt>.tar.bz2</tt> also known as a TarBall. See [ tar(1)]  
  
-* Don't get involved in emacs(1) vs. vi(1) arguments. Use nano(1), pico(1), joe(1), or jed(1) for your initial editing needs. Once you have gotten a little more comfortable with the system, however, be sure to revisit emacs(1) and vi(1) as they offer ''tons'' of power you will never get with the simple minded editors. For the latter, [Vim] is the suggested clone, which comes with a <tt>vimtutor</tt> program that should get your over the initial hurdles quickly. ''Does any equivalent for emacs(1) exist?'' 
+* Don't get involved in [ emacs(1)] vs. [ vi(1)] arguments. Use [ nano(1)] , [ pico(1)] , [ joe(1)] , or [ jed(1)] for your initial editing needs. Once you have gotten a little more comfortable with the system, however, be sure to revisit [ emacs(1)] and [ vi(1)] as they offer ''tons'' of power you will never get with the simple minded editors. For the latter, [Vim] is the suggested clone, which comes with a <tt>vimtutor</tt> program that should get your over the initial hurdles quickly. ''Does any equivalent for [ emacs(1)] exist?'' 
  
 * Before you ask for help online, be sure to read the documentation first. It is sometimes difficult to understand so don't feel bad if you don't get it, just make the attempt. It will either make any explanation you get from someone else clearer, or the explanation will help you understand the documentation. Next time you look at it, the documentation will be less puzzling. If you repeat this a couple times, then you'll soon be cruising along with the docs just fine. 
  
 * If your desktop locks up, Ctrl-Alt-Backspace will kill the graphical environment (the [XServer], in technical terms) and drop you to the [Shell] (or your display manager) without having to reboot the system. 
@@ -35,9 +35,9 @@
 * You don't have to shut down or restart every day. It's ok to leave a [Linux] system running for a week or more (some users have their system running for months at a time). You should still conserve electricity, tho. 
  
 * There is no way to undelete a file in [Linux]. You deleted it, it's gone. See rm(1) 
  
-* sudo(1) will let you execute a command with SuperUser (or any other) privileges; it may need to be configured, in that case, see SudoHowto. If you really need a root shell, you can use su(1): execute <tt>su -</tt> and type the root password. You should never log in as root (except if you managed to get the system so shot up that you can't log in as a user). 
+* [ sudo(1)] will let you execute a command with SuperUser (or any other) privileges; it may need to be configured, in that case, see SudoHowto. If you really need a root shell, you can use [ su(1)] : execute <tt>su -</tt> and type the root password. You should never log in as root (except if you managed to get the system so shot up that you can't log in as a user). 
  
 * Installing a program from source is easier than you think. The sequence is usually along the lines of: 
  <pre> 
  tar xvzf ''filename''-''version''.tar.gz 
@@ -48,9 +48,9 @@
  Note you have to be root for the <tt>make install</tt> step if you are installing into system wide directories. You can always install to your home directory, of course -- which you need to indicate by saying <tt>./configure --prefix=$HOME</tt> on the relevant step. You can also pass many more options, to <tt>configure</tt>, most of which needn't concern you, except for the (usually few) <tt>--enable-''foo''</tt>/<tt>--disable-''foo''</tt> and <tt>--with-''bar''</tt>/<tt>--without-''bar''</tt> which let you hand-pick features to include or omit from the resultant build of the software. 
  
 * Make sure you are working on the correct drive when doing any FileSystem level work -- nuking the wrong partition or disk is annoying to say the least. 
  
-* Learn how to use redirection ("<tt><</tt>", "<tt>></tt>") and pipes ("<tt>|</tt>") in the [Shell]. See bash(1) 
+* Learn how to use redirection ("<tt><</tt>", "<tt>></tt>") and pipes ("<tt>|</tt>") in the [Shell]. See [ bash(1)]  
  
 * Your initial WindowManager settings are (generally) stored in the <tt>.xinitrc</tt> or <tt>.xsession</tt> file in your home. 
 ** Note that this isn't so relevant any more with GNOME and KDE 
  
@@ -194,9 +194,9 @@
 *df -B M 
 The -B switch refers to Block Size. The M means it will be displayed in Megabytes. 
 But if you prefer use K for kilobytes, G for gigabytes etc.. 
  
-df(1) doesn't require root privileges to work. Also "df -h" will select the right units for you. Many programs that support outputting units will support "-h" for "human readable". The other useful command here is du(1). 
+[ df(1)] doesn't require root privileges to work. Also "df -h" will select the right units for you. Many programs that support outputting units will support "-h" for "human readable". The other useful command here is [ du(1)]
  
 !Install an app from .rpm 
 First you need Alien: 
 sudo aptitude install al