Newbie (n00b) 101 -- A place to start

[ZabiGG]

Edits on the main post and on p.5... Cheers

Z.

[nowin4me]

Id like to see it stickied since it is so recent

I am anther beginner and would also like to see this sticked.

[JKyleOKC]

Here's a little more about redirection (maybe more than you wanted to know):

In Unix, and thus in Linux, just about everything gets treated as a file. That is, your monitor, your keyboard, your printer, and the files on your disk, all these look the same to the system (although some of them provide only input, some only handle output, and some do both). This greatly simplifies a lot of other stuff inside the system, and even Windows adopted much of this strategy as of Version 2.0 more than 18 years ago.

When you launch a program (or process, as it's known inside the system), two such files are created automagically: STDIN and STDOUT (actually there's a third one called STDERR but I'll ignore it for now). STDIN is automatically connected to your keyboard and STDOUT to your monitor, giving you the normal operation you expect.

However the command interpreter or shell recognizes several special characters in the command line that can modify the connections of STDIN and STDOUT. These are the redirection and piping operators. The ">" operator changes the connection of STDOUT while the "<" operates on the STDIN connection. This lets you take input from a text file into some program, and feed the output of that program to your printer.

When the ">" goes to a named conventional file, it first erases that file if it exists, then creates it anew. Sometimes, though, you'll want to add to the existing content instead of replacing it. Then you use the ">>" operator instead.

Piping is a powerful use of the redirection capability; you can place the pipe operator "|" between two program names, and the STDOUT from the leftmost program will connect to STDIN of the other. It's the same result you would get by using ">" and "<" to route the data through a temporary intermediate file, but works more simply behind the scenes.

Keep in mind that all these are features of the shell you are using rather than of Linux itself, so there could be minor variations in usage from one shell to another. However most of us are using the default "bash" shell, which is what I've based this description on.

[ZabiGG]

Wow! Great essay JKyleOKC!

Thank you very much for this informative post

[ZabiGG]

A quick quirp to demystify the forum sections to help you decide where to post your questions.

- Absolute Beginner Talk: a place to get basic help for absolute newbies
- General Help: when you have no idea what topic your question relates to, post it here
- Apple Users: if you come from Mac OS and need pointers
- Multimedia & Video: music and video application experts are here
- Sun Sparc Users: if you come from Sun and need pointers
- x86 64-bit Users: if you have problems related directly to the 64-bit architecture
- Desktop Environments: questions about Gnome, KDE, Xfce and so on
- Hardware & Laptops: video and sound cards, printers, devices, laptops
- Multimedia Production: sound and video editing applications and tips
- Security Discussions: questions on how to ensure the safety of your system
- System76 Support: no idea... could someone please provide info on this one???
- Wubi: issues and questions about the application used to install Ubuntu from Windows
- Desktop Effects & Customization: screensavers, splash screens, icons, backgrounds, cubes...
- Installation & Upgrades: issues with installing and upgrading your OS
- Networking & Wireless: setting up a network, sharing, Ethernet card, router and the likes
- Server Platforms: server versions of Ubuntu and by-products
- Dell Ubuntu Support: Specific help for Dell computer owners

I'll run through the Discussions sections, and the HOW-TO section as soon as I have a chance...

Cheers,

Z.

[ZabiGG]

A COMPREHENSIVE LIST OF HOW-TOs

http://www.ubuntuhq.com/wiki/index.php/Ubuntu_Howtos

Listed alphabetically. Use your Find feature in your favourite browser to locate the one you need.

Unfortunately, some of those relate to older versions of Ubuntu. Most times, the logical link (i.e. replacing Feisty by Hardy in the relevant command lines) is all you need to change for these tips and instructions to work.

When in doubt, check out this forum's HOWTO section here

The most recent guides should be in there.

Cheers,

Z.

[archer6]

-- there is information aplenty out there...

... just TOO much to take in -- and no "one-stop starting place" for a poor newbie.

For instance, I wasted hours

Now there are three statements that I certainly agree with and have personally experienced.......

I too have been considering Linux for quite some time. After spending countless hours somewhat adrift in a sea of information about distributions, and on and on, finally I came across Ubuntu and decided to take the plunge.

I got a CD of Ubuntu 7.10 a couple of months ago. The next decision was to configure it as dual boot on my main work laptop, or to use an older laptop with only 768mb of ram and a measly 1.5MHz Celeron. Well I toyed & procrastinated for a few weeks trying to decide. Finally after deciding that it might run ok on the older laptop, I installed it, wiping every last bit of windows off the hard drive. Now I'm happy to report that I have it up and running well, and everything works!.....Yay!

So now it's a matter of learning all about Ubuntu, and I could not be happier.

Thanks a lot for the great one page resource list you have provided us. It's the perfect place for me to get started, with a good direction to follow.

Cheers

[ZabiGG]

This thread remains open for your contributions, in its brand new home in the Community Café. Check back often as it evolves with the help of this great community.

Toodles,

Z.

[Xiong Chiamiov]

I didn't see the wonderful How to install anything in Ubuntu guide in there.

[ZabiGG]

It's in there

Under applications 101...

Cheers and thanks for helping,

Z.