Learning the Unix Operating System, 5th Edition

Chapter 1. Getting Started

Before you can use Unix, a system staff person has to set up a Unix account for you. The account is identified by your username, which is usually a single word or an abbreviation. Think of this account as your office—it’s your place in the Unix environment. Other users may also be at work on the same system. At many sites, there will be a whole network of Unix computers. So in addition to knowing your username, you may also need to know the hostname (name) of the computer that has your account. Alternatively, your account may be shared between all computers on the local network, and you may be able to log into any of them.

Once you’ve logged in to your account, you’ll interact with your system by typing commands at a command line, to a program called a shell. You’ll get acquainted with the shell, enter a few commands, and see how to handle common problems. To finish your Unix session, you’ll log out.

Working in the Unix Environment

Each user communicates with the computer from a terminal. To get into the Unix environment, you first connect to the Unix computer. (Your terminal is probably already connected to a computer.^[1] But Unix systems also let you log into other computers across a network. In this case, log into your local computer first, then use a remote login command to connect to the remote computer. See Section 6.1 in Chapter 6.)

After connecting your terminal, if needed, you start a session by logging in to your Unix account. To ...