Skip to Content
The Linux Command Line, 2nd Edition
book

The Linux Command Line, 2nd Edition

by William E. Shotts
February 2019
Beginner
504 pages
10h 47m
English
No Starch Press

Overview

The Linux Command Line takes you from your very first terminal keystrokes to writing full programs in Bash, the most popular Linux shell (or command line). Along the way you'll learn the timeless skills handed down by generations of experienced, mouse-shunning gurus: file navigation, environment configuration, command chaining, pattern matching with regular expressions, and more.

In addition to that practical knowledge, author William Shotts reveals the philosophy behind these tools and the rich heritage that your desktop Linux machine has inherited from Unix supercomputers of yore.

As you make your way through the book's short, easily-digestible chapters, you'll learn how to:

•Create and delete files, directories, and symlinks

•Administer your system, including networking, package installation, and process management

•Use standard input and output, redirection, and pipelines

•Edit files with Vi, the world's most popular text editor

•Write shell scripts to automate common or boring tasks

•Slice and dice text files with cut, paste, grep, patch, and sed

Once you overcome your initial ""shell shock,"" you'll find that the command line is a natural and expressive way to communicate with your computer. Just don't be surprised if your mouse starts to gather dust.

Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
and much more.

Read now

Unlock full access

More than 5,000 organizations count on O’Reilly

AirBnbBlueOriginElectronic ArtsHomeDepotNasdaqRakutenTata Consultancy Services

QuotationMarkO’Reilly covers everything we've got, with content to help us build a world-class technology community, upgrade the capabilities and competencies of our teams, and improve overall team performance as well as their engagement.
Julian F.
Head of Cybersecurity
QuotationMarkI wanted to learn C and C++, but it didn't click for me until I picked up an O'Reilly book. When I went on the O’Reilly platform, I was astonished to find all the books there, plus live events and sandboxes so you could play around with the technology.
Addison B.
Field Engineer
QuotationMarkI’ve been on the O’Reilly platform for more than eight years. I use a couple of learning platforms, but I'm on O'Reilly more than anybody else. When you're there, you start learning. I'm never disappointed.
Amir M.
Data Platform Tech Lead
QuotationMarkI'm always learning. So when I got on to O'Reilly, I was like a kid in a candy store. There are playlists. There are answers. There's on-demand training. It's worth its weight in gold, in terms of what it allows me to do.
Mark W.
Embedded Software Engineer

You might also like

Linux Fundamentals, 2nd Edition

Linux Fundamentals, 2nd Edition

Sander van Vugt
Understanding the Linux Kernel, 3rd Edition

Understanding the Linux Kernel, 3rd Edition

Daniel P. Bovet, Marco Cesati
Learning Modern Linux

Learning Modern Linux

Michael Hausenblas

Publisher Resources

ISBN: 9781492071235