Entering Commands at the Shell Command Line

Using Linux means using a command line. Even if you always run the X Window System, you'll need to know how to use the shell at one time or another. By understanding how the shell interprets your keystrokes, you'll learn how to work faster and more efficiently when you enter commands.

Case Sensitivity

All shells for Linux are case sensitive. (Actually, Linux is always case sensitive, not just shells.) This means filenames must be specified exactly as they exist, using uppercase, mixed-case, or lowercase letters and characters. Filenames can be as much as 256 characters long, and can contain many different types of characters. For example, the following are valid (but not necessarily good) sample ...

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