NEW UBUNTU USERS: Becoming friends with the terminal...

[orbesnet]

Noob saying thanks. I'm about to dive in to get my firewire soundcard working so this was helpful indeed.

[matthew.ball]

A similar thing is possible from a laptop where you don't neccessarily have a mouse connected, by using Ctrl-Shift-c and
Ctrl-****-v - depending on if you want to copy from or into the terminal.

If you don't have a middle mouse button (like a laptop), you can just simultaneously click the left and right buttons together. Might take some practice to get used to the feeling (timing?), but it is a pseudo-middle click.

I always wondered, why cant ubuntu get rid of the terminal like Mandriva?

I hope not

Edit: Pretty good guide by the way. There are certain applications (that I know off the top of my head, irssi and emacs) which use the GNU Readline key-bindings. Pretty useful for quickly manipulating text, searching history and completion. There's a cheat sheet here, which I found pretty useful.

If you're interested in making more of this type tutorial Mazza, I'd gladly write something up in a distributed LaTeX project or something (I currently have around 25 pages written for a tutorial on Emacs, but the intention was to write another one afterwards more-or-less about using a terminal, covering some things like BASH scripts, .bashrc modifications, and general commands, but I would gladly put the Emacs tutorial on hold if you wanted to do some group-work). I'll be quite busy in about a months time, but any time between now and then I should be alright to do something. If you are interested, or just want to talk about the idea, send me an email or drop-by #ubuntu-offtopic on irc.freenode.net

[asifnaz]

nice job

[spencerownside]

i am new to ubuntu and a true newbie when it comes to the terminal. i understand how to follow directions and am able to cut and paste. i even have some familiarity with code language as i did some web-design within dreamweaver -- so i have a limited understanding of code per se.
i am trying to learn how to work within the terminal as i maybe doing some upgrading from ubuntu to ubuntu studio and then whatever fun adventures await me from there on.
i started going through one of the tutorials when i came across a warning about working as a root/superuser. i also saw some mentions of the 'sudo' command in this thread. i am curious about 2 things:
1) what is this 'root'/'superuser' vs. a 'user account'?
2) i may have glossed over a little bit, but what is the deal with 'sudo' command mentioned in this thread? i have used 'sudo' to run commands before, so i am somewhat puzzled.
- if i create a user account can i do whatever 'sudo' command i want and then log in as 'superuser' and revert back stuff that i screw up?
gracias and for those of us who don't know much- these assistance threads are very nice- thank you.

[Sean Moran]

i am curious about 2 things:
1) 'root'/'superuser' vs. a 'user account'?
2) i may have glossed over a little bit, but what is the deal with 'sudo' command mentioned in this thread? i have used 'sudo' to run commands before, so i am somewhat puzzled.
- if i create a user account can i do whatever 'sudo' command i want and then log in as 'superuser' and revert back stuff that i screw up?

1. User accounts are designed to accommodate people who use the system. Root AKA superuser account/s is/are designed to accommodate people who make/break the system.
Some user accounts can have admin privileges, allowing them to perform some of the make/break genre of operations. The user who installs Ubuntu has admin privileges by default, as far as I remember.

2. No. If you create a new user account, I am under the impression that the default is NOT to grant admin privileges, so the new user would not have much luck with 'sudo'. Also, No, the reason that standard users don't get admin/sudo capacity is that most of the stuff you do with 'sudo' CANNOT be undone/reverted back if you screw up.

[spencerownside]

i am starting to get the hang of some of the navigation aspects but am having some problems accessing a couple of my folders.

I have 2 exemplar folders on my desktop that i am just trying to get into as part of the learning fun: the 2 specific files are "Readings & Research" and then "Live Songs Video". i can navigate to the desktop and am accessing other folders on the desktop and can then navigate inside of those.
the problem i am having with the 2 above files is a format thing i think. I don't know how to input the terminal code when 'spaces' and 'symbols' are involved.

/home/spencer/Desktop/Readings&Research
nor
/home/spencer/Desktop/Readings & Research
will not work.

and like wise:

/home/spencer/Desktop/LiveSongsVideo
nor
/home/spencer/Desktop/Live Songs Video
will not work.

I can successfully go to:
/home/spencer/Desktop/Wavs
or
/home/spencer/Desktop/School
and also
/home/spencer/Desktop/School/Current/Metaphysics

and i can see all the files inside that latter folder: but no luck with any folder that has 'space'/ is multiple words long.
Any thoughts please?

[spencerownside]

i am starting to get the hang of some of the navigation aspects but am having some problems accessing a couple of my folders.

I have 2 exemplar folders on my desktop that i am just trying to get into as part of the learning fun: the 2 specific files are "Readings & Research" and then "Live Songs Video". i can navigate to the desktop and am accessing other folders on the desktop and can then navigate inside of those.
the problem i am having with the 2 above files is a format thing i think. I don't know how to input the terminal code when 'spaces' and 'symbols' are involved.

/home/spencer/Desktop/Readings&Research
nor
/home/spencer/Desktop/Readings & Research
will not work.

and like wise:

/home/spencer/Desktop/LiveSongsVideo
nor
/home/spencer/Desktop/Live Songs Video
will not work.

I can successfully go to:
/home/spencer/Desktop/Wavs
or
/home/spencer/Desktop/School
and also
/home/spencer/Desktop/School/Current/Metaphysics

and i can see all the files inside that latter folder: but no luck accessing any folder that has 'space'/ is multiple words long.
Any thoughts please?

[spencerownside]

i am starting to get the hang of some of the navigation aspects but am having some problems accessing a couple of my folders.

I have 2 exemplar folders on my desktop that i am just trying to get into as part of the learning fun: the 2 specific files are "Readings & Research" and then "Live Songs Video". i can navigate to the desktop and am accessing other folders on the desktop and can then navigate inside of those.
the problem i am having with the 2 above files is a format thing i think. I don't know how to input the terminal code when 'spaces' and 'symbols' are involved.

/home/spencer/Desktop/Readings&Research
nor
/home/spencer/Desktop/Readings & Research
will not work.

and like wise:

/home/spencer/Desktop/LiveSongsVideo
nor
/home/spencer/Desktop/Live Songs Video
will not work.

I can successfully go to:
/home/spencer/Desktop/Wavs
or
/home/spencer/Desktop/School
and also
/home/spencer/Desktop/School/Current/Metaphysics

and i can see all the files inside that latter folder: but no luck accessing any folder that has 'space'/ is multiple words long.
Any thoughts please?

[TeoBigusGeekus]

cd "/home/spencer/Desktop/Readings & Research"

and

cd "/home/spencer/Desktop/Live Songs Video"

[TeoBigusGeekus]

cd "/home/spencer/Desktop/Readings & Research"

and

cd "/home/spencer/Desktop/Live Songs Video"