This pdf helps you learn everything about the linux command line interface
The Linux Command Line
Fifth Internet Edition
William Shotts
A LinuxCommand.org Book
Copyright ©2008-2019, William E. Shotts, Jr.
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No De-
rivative Works 3.0 United States License. To view a copy of this license, visit the link
above or send a letter to Creative Commons, PO Box 1866, Mountain View, CA 94042.
A version of this book is also available in printed form, published by No Starch Press.
Copies may be purchased wherever fine books are sold. No Starch Press also offers elec-
tronic formats for popular e-readers. They can be reached at: https://www.nostarch.com.
Linux
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is the registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. All other trademarks belong to
their respective owners.
This book is part of the LinuxCommand.org project, a site for Linux education and advo-
cacy devoted to helping users of legacy operating systems migrate into the future. You
may contact the LinuxCommand.org project at http://linuxcommand.org.
Release History
Version Date Description
19.01A January 28, 2019 Fifth Internet Edition (Corrected TOC)
19.01 January 17, 2019 Fifth Internet Edition.
17.10 October 19, 2017 Fourth Internet Edition.
16.07 July 28, 2016 Third Internet Edition.
13.07 July 6, 2013 Second Internet Edition.
09.12 December 14, 2009 First Internet Edition.
Table of Contents
Introduction....................................................................................................xvi
Why Use the Command Line?......................................................................................xvi
What This Book Is About..............................................................................................xvii
Who Should Read This Book.......................................................................................xvii
What's in This Book.....................................................................................................xviii
How To Read This Book................................................................................................xix
Prerequisites............................................................................................................xix
Why I Don't Call It “GNU/Linux”...........................................................................xix
What's New in the Fifth Internet Edition.........................................................................xx
Acknowledgments..........................................................................................................xx
First Internet Edition..................................................................................................xx
Second Internet Edition............................................................................................xxi
Third Internet Edition................................................................................................xxi
Fourth Internet Edition..............................................................................................xxi
Fifth Internet Edition.................................................................................................xxi
Your Feedback Is Needed!............................................................................................xxi
Further Reading............................................................................................................xxi
Colophon......................................................................................................................xxii
Part 1 – Learning the Shell...............................................................1
1 – What Is the Shell?......................................................................................2
Terminal Emulators..........................................................................................................2
Making Your First Keystrokes..........................................................................................2
Command History.......................................................................................................3
Cursor Movement.......................................................................................................3
A Few Words About Mice and Focus.....................................................................3
Try Some Simple Commands..........................................................................................4
Ending a Terminal Session..............................................................................................5
The Console Behind the Curtain...........................................................................5
Summing Up....................................................................................................................5
Further Reading...............................................................................................................6
2 – Navigation...................................................................................................7
Understanding the File System Tree...............................................................................7
The Current Working Directory........................................................................................7
Listing the Contents of a Directory..................................................................................8
i
End of Document
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