Cheat Sheet for new users.

[sunexplodes]

EDITED 2007/03/19

My Cheat Sheet is essentially a cleaned-up version of some notes i've taken while learning to use linux. I'm releasing it because I think it might help some other noobs.

It contains: a list of useful directories and files, a brief intro to the terminal, wireless networking with ndiswrapper, some recommended applications, and lots of other stuff.

http://kyle.monoperative.net/cheat.html

Please feel free to suggest any good tips for basic config and use that i might be missing.

[RudolfMDLT]

Very nice! Thank you!

[nickpaton]

Excellent - thanks!

[sunexplodes]

I've made a pretty big update to the cheatsheet. Lots of new info, better formatting, more up-to-date.

Hope somebody finds it useful.

It's an OpenDocument text file inside the archive.
25164

[C-A]

nice, thanks!

[lenn/art]

Tnx!

As a newbie i would recommend also to add this:
* how to mount (a hdd, a usb stick)
* what is su(do) and why?
* some tips for windows users

* remove how to add something to the kernel - why whould a newbie do that?

[sunexplodes]

Those aren't bad ideas at all.

As for the modprobe question, it's included because it has to be done in order to set up ndiswrapper, which is something a lot of newbies are going to have to deal with, and it's nice to know what the commands you're using actually DO.

Anyway, the next revision is going to contain:

* how to mount (a hdd, a usb stick)
* what is su(do) and why?

as you've suggested, and i'll definately compile a list of windows transition tips.

also:

* how to restore a verbose boot screen (like in dapper)
* a revised ndiswrapper section, as edgy makes it a bit more difficult
* getting back/forward mouse buttons working
* mounting and dealing with ipods

and possibly a couple more things.

[castoroil97]

very good, this will be very helpful.

I have been very pleased with Ubuntu thus far, people like you make it even better!

Thanks again.

[castoroil97]

I think I found an error under--
COMMON COMMANDS AND USAGE

Change to Parent Directory: cp ..
Change directory: cp /directory

should it be

Change to Parent Directory: cd ..
Change directory: cd /directory

[hyper_ch]

It's nice :)

I use a mediawiki for my notes :)

For the commands it would be good to add what the -R (recursive) is doing... especially when you want to delete folders :)

[tkjacobsen]

you should add "updatedb" or "sudo updatedb" together with locate... Alternatively use

find . -name "hello.cpp"

or more general:

find path options "searchpattern"

path: "." means this directory and all subdirs.. use "/" to search entire system (SLOW)
good options are -name or -iname, the last is the same as the first but not case sensitive.
searchpattern should be exact - but wildcards are allowed using * like "*.cpp"

[sunexplodes]

I've been working towards adapting the cheatsheet to html, but i've been a bit low on time lately, so it's somewhat incomplete so far. I'm going to keep working at it, so feel free to check back for updates.


http://kyle.monoperative.net/cheat.html

[Dirigo]

Thank You! I'm just getting started with Linux, too, and this will be very useful!

[BLTicklemonster]

4. Common Terminal Commands
Copy Files: cp /original/path /new/path
Delete: rm /file
Change to Parent Directory: cp ..
Change directory: cp /directory
Rename a File: mv oldfilename newfilename
Find Files: locate keyword
Add Something to the Kernel: modprobe [whatever]
To get information on a command: man -k keyword
To fix broken packages: dpkg-reconfigure [package name, ex "xserver-xorg" or "gdm"]


Should that not be

Change to Parent Directory: cd ..
Change directory: cd /directory


and add

Make Directory mkdir /newdirectory (sudo mkdir /newdirectory where applicable)


perhaps, unless it's too early, and the coffee hasn't hit yet?


Great stuff, thanks for taking the time!

*edit: oh, castoroil97 already mentioned the cd stuff, sorry.

[overdrank]

I've been working towards adapting the cheatsheet to html, but i've been a bit low on time lately, so it's somewhat incomplete so far. I'm going to keep working at it, so feel free to check back for updates.


http://kyle.monoperative.net/cheat.html

Hi and thanks, great help and keep up the great work!=D>

[battleshipterry]

I had to say THKS this helps the learning curve and brings newbees from the dark side =D>


Obi-wan has taught you well 8-)

[nhandler]

For changing the current directory in a terminal, you have cp written. I think you meant cd. Also, in order for the locate command to be any good, you need to perform a sudo updatedb. One last thing you could add is nano. In my opinion, nano is easier and more user friendly for people knew to the terminal than vi.

[aleska]

Excellent work!

Agree completely with the Automatix sentiments. Kyle, might you consider adding a link to https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RestrictedFormats on your cheat sheet? You can explain that for those folks who consider turning to Automatix just for codec / restricted format support, they can instead simply follow the straightforward instructions in the RestrictedFormats section of the Ubuntu Community Documentation site.

Thanks for sharing this!
-Aleska

[aysiu]

I've moved this to the Cafe, as it is more of announcement/discussion than a support request.

I've also extracted to this thread (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=2425221#post2425221) the arguments about the validity of Automatix.

[tscook]

there should be more vi functions in there. At least i and a

[BLTicklemonster]

I've moved this to the Cafe, as it is more of announcement/discussion than a support request.

I've also extracted to this thread (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=2425221#post2425221) the arguments about the validity of Automatix.

lmao toss me in the frying pan for crying out loud. I voted #1 in there a while back, and support automatix, and on a new install of feisty, would have used it, but I never saw where it supported Feisty, so I did stuff myself. The first thing I did when I installed Feisty was go to google and look up automatix. I was in a hurry, and wanted stuff up right away. I'd done it myself without Automatix on the last dapper install, because I wanted to do it that way, but prior to that, I was an automatix junky.


(wow, I just figured something out. if you type something in Firefox and it has red underlinings, right click it and add it to the dictionary, and it stops acting like you're stupid.)

[Pacsun]

Feel free to Digg his article at:

http://digg.com/linux_unix/Ubuntu_Edgy_Eft_Cheat_Sheet

[macogw]

Should that not be

Change to Parent Directory: cd ..
Change directory: cd /directory


and add

Make Directory mkdir /newdirectory (sudo mkdir /newdirectory where applicable)


perhaps, unless it's too early, and the coffee hasn't hit yet?


Great stuff, thanks for taking the time!

*edit: oh, castoroil97 already mentioned the cd stuff, sorry.
You'd probably want to leave the / off because if you're in ~ and try to
mkdir /movies
it'll try to put it up under / instead of as ~/movies, so it should just be
mkdir movies
ya know, unless you're wanting to use an absolute path from /

[BLTicklemonster]

Excellent point. I should have mentioned to cd mkdir /full path to directory i.e.


sudo cd mkdir /usr/bin/laden/isa/jerk

or something.

[Phatfiddler]

cp != cd

Please make sure the change directory command is "cd" and not "cp"

[Cariboo1938]

I think
/grub/boot/menu.lst would be another useful file to mention in your section "1. Useful Files and Folders".
Here are some other useful commands that I had to use while learning:
A collection of useful commands.
Open a terminal and type/copy-paste the commands for specific issues.

1) What kernel? Code: "uname -a" (or option -r)
2) What is connected to USB ports: "lsusb" (with -options)
3) What is connected to the MoBo: "lspci" (with -options)
4) Find a specific item, for example VGA card: "lspci | grep VGA"
5) X server settings: "nvidia-settings"
6) Partition Table: "fdisk -lu"
7) Reactivate XServer: "sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg"
I don't know if it makes sense to include them in your section "4. Common Terminal Commands".
Just a thought.

[sunexplodes]

A lot of those are great and will definately be in the next revision.

Sorry about the shoddy vi instructions, guys. I didn't know any better and I just used the first cl text editor i found. I'll switch over to nano in the future.

About Automatix, the suggestion to use it will be removed in the next version, as Feisty's made it pretty much obsolete. I will be including instructions on enabling those codecs though.


Plus, a few other goodies I've picked up around the forums, and on my aventures moving to the Feisty Fawn.

Thanks for the input!

[SlayerMan]

Very nice work, thank you!