Chapter 1. Absolute Basics

There’s stuff you just have to know. Chapter 1 has ten projects to get you started in Unix. Whereas Chapters 2 to 11 are practical exercises focused on specific tasks, “Absolute Basics” covers basic commands and theory, including the following essential topics:

  • The Terminal application and the command line. These, and the shell, form your day-to-day working environment, so it’s good to get to know them well.

  • Basic Unix commands and concepts. The essentials are covered to get you started.

  • The Unix manual. All commands are documented in the manual, albeit in a rather terse manner.

  • Bash and other shells. You’ll be talking to the shell more than anything else, so learn its language and take advantage of what the various shells ...

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