On Fri, 2003-05-30 at 18:05, wa dea wrote: > hi, > > I hope this is not OT; I've lurked for a bit and this looks like the place > to be. > > I've been playing with Debian for the last few weeks and was looking for > some help getting started. > > I come from a M$ backgound with a total *nix experience as a "Well" user > some 18 years ago. > > I'm having trouble tracking down baby-step stuff. I installed (testing my > "from floppy" skills) including X-Win and when I couldn't figure out how to > get the shell out of there, reinstall with no added packages. > > Examples of where I'm looking for help: > > Are there any basic text based tools, like old DOS file managers, for > navigation or inspection? (I'm trying not to think like DOS, but it's > my native language and I'd like to start without any graphical interface.) > As other have said, mc (midnight commander - norton commander like tool) > When wandering around how can I distinguish filetypes? Is there a good > reference? well there are a few common ones: text files, biniary files, scripts, configuration files binary files (programs that run) normally have a /bin/ or /sbin/ in their file path. If you 'vi' then they will look like gibberish. scripts can be of many sort: perl, php, bash, sh. They may have a file 'extension': respectivley: .pl,.php,.sh,.sh. Also if you examine the first line of a file and it begin with "#!" (called - she-bang) it is a script. ie. a perl script will being with "#!/usr/bin/perl". The 'file' utility will also help. Anything configuration file on a linux system is in the /etc/ directory. most of these are text files. > > Looking at a file (eg 'vi -R /etc/profile'), I'm assuming this is a script. > What's a good reference fot translating this stuff? > See above. (note some configuration files contain scripts) > I've been using 'man' as much as I can relate, but my understanding is that > this is not the most up to date source on a lot of things. > MAN is a VERY consise reference. mostly used once you know what you are doing and forgot how. > I'm working through a few tutorials but what I'm looking for is reference > material not tutorials. > It is a GREAT tutorial please check it out! http://rute.sourceforge.net (rute User's Tutorial and Exposition) IBM has a great linux resource http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/ > Any help appreciated. > > Thank you > > Mada > > _________________________________________________________________ > Protect your PC - get McAfee.com VirusScan Online > http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963 -- Kevin Mark <kmark@pipeline.com>
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