What Is the Command Line?

If you spend any amount of time with experienced Linux users, you have heard them mention the command line. Some, especially those who have begun their journey in the Linux world using distributions that make it easy to complete many tasks using a graphical user interface (GUI), such as Ubuntu, might speak with trepidation about the mysteries of the text interface. Others either praise its power or comment about doing something via the command line as if it is the most natural and obvious way to complete a task.

It is not necessary for you to embrace either extreme. You might develop an affinity for the command line when performing some tasks and prefer the GUI for others. This is where most users end up today. Some ...

Get Ubuntu Unleashed 2014 Edition: Covering 13.10 and 14.04,Ninth Edition now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.