Ubuntu: Up and Running

Chapter 7. The Command Line

As powerful as the GNOME desktop and Nautilus file manager are, there are still times when you will need to use a command line in Ubuntu. Fortunately, though, the days when you needed to learn enough stuff to fill an entire book before you could make good use of the command line are long gone.

Instead, you should be able to get by with just the information provided in this chapter, in which you’ll learn how to start a command-line session, manage files and folders and their permission settings, run programs, and perform many other housekeeping tasks.

If you’ve never used a command line before, please don’t be put off by this chapter. Unix, the operating system on which Linux is based, has been around a very long time, precisely because it’s actually quite easy to use and, yes, even easy to learn, as you’ll soon discover.

The Terminal

The main method you will use to enter command-line instructions into Ubuntu is via the Terminal program, which you call up by selecting Applications → Terminal. This results in a blank window capable of displaying 24 rows of 80 characters, as shown in Figure 7-1.

Figure 7-1. A newly opened terminal window

This resolution is used because it has been the standard size for text displays since the dawn of Unix. However, you can change it by dragging the window borders to suit your preferences and accommodate the text being displayed. ...