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181 lines
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<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN">
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<title>Clueless at the Prompt Issue 26</title>
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<BODY BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#000000" LINK="#0000FF" VLINK="#A000A0"
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<H4>
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"Linux Gazette...<I>making Linux just a little more fun!</I>"
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</H4>
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<P> <HR> <P>
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<!--===================================================================-->
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<center><H2>Clueless at the Prompt</H2>
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<H4>By Mike List,
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<a href="mailto:troll@net-link.net">troll@net-link.net</a></H4>
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</center>
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<P> <HR> <P>
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<center><IMG ALIGN=MIDDLE SRC = "../gx/list/gnub.jpg" ></center><p>
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<h4>Welcome to installment 10 of Clueless at the Prompt,</h4>
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<p>
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Here's this month's account of the triumphs, trials and
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tribulations that I caused myself or encountered since the last
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time, and a couple tips that may come in handy and increase your
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understanding of Linux.
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<hr><p><h4>
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*Splitvt and Screen:</h4> Last month, I suggested splitvt as a substitute
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for virtual consoles when using a serial terminal. I still recommend
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splitvt since you can work in two separate windows that are in sight of
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each other- cut and paste with gpm is a snap for scavenging previously
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written scripts or....
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But several people wrote to tell me about screen, which is an even better
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substitute for virtual consoles when using that dumb terminal. I'm still
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working on making screen work fluidly, Alt-F* took a little
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getting used to at first. Instead of the A-F* combination you use the
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C-a* keys to open a new window. There are some other features that I have
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only read about, the only difference between screen and virtual consoles
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is that each new screen is already logged on.
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<p>
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Like I said, I'm not familiar with all of screen's features, but to use
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it, basically you type:
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<pre>
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screen progname
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</pre>
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and your screen session is started in VT0.
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To add more VTs you can use:
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<pre>
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Ctrl-a c
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</pre>
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and to change from one screen to another:
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<pre>
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Ctrl-a 0-9
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</pre>
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and you can change from screen to screen, depending on how many you have
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opened. Note that the screens are numbered 0-9 rather than 1-10,
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the only clumsy feature of this program, IMHO.
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<hr><p><h4>
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*Back to basics:</h4> Some friends of mine, the nefarious UGD folks
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have a page <a href="http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Pines/1703/docs/dog/">
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"User Guide Dog"</a>which details many, if not
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most of the usual commands that a new user might find useful but not
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clearly documented. I don't have to tell you that man pages can be pretty
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hostile to a gnubee (ever wonder what that picture was?), but if you
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check them out after using the programs to do the things you most commonly
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need to do, you will most likely achieve enlightenment - the information
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is suddenly much more clear. The UGD Project is shaping up as a good
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vehicle for this journey, if you can take the ride. Bring along your sense
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of humor, one of the guys is a Canadian from out on the tundra ; ).
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<hr><p><h4>
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*Some stuff you may not hear anywhere else (so basic they forgot
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to tell you):</h4>
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<ul>Here's some stuff you probably already know
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about, if you've been into Linux (or other unices) for a while.
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<p>
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<li><h4>Filename Completion</h4>: If you aren't an enthusiastic
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typist, you'll find this of value. Just type enough of the filename
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to make it unique, then hit
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<pre>tab</pre>
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and it will complete the filename so you can get on with your life
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and file manipulation. Play with this feature, if you haven't
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typed enough of the name to be unique, it will sit and stare at
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you, try another character or two. Likewise, if you specified the
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wrong directory, you'll get nada.<p>
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<li><h4>Quick cd</h4>: Another keystroke saving apparatus
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is:
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<pre>..</pre>
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and its close relative
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<pre>.</pre>
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The details for
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a quick cd areas follows: as you may be already aware, the dots
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represent your current directory(single dot) and parent directory
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(double dot).By CDing to
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<pre>..</pre>
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you will be magically transported to the parent directory, ie
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from /usr/bin to /usr.You can use:
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<pre>cd -</pre>
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to return to the previous directory,
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and to go up two or more levels:
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<pre>../../and so on</pre>
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will work. The single dot is not as useful in terms of cd, but it
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does have its use. If you are in a directory that's not in your
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path, or dont have
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<pre>.</pre>
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in your path statement, you must
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give a path to run an executable file. This is easily accomplished
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by typing:
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<pre>./execuname</pre>
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which will give the relative pathname, allowing it to be found and
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run.
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There are a few good reasons why using the single
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dot in your path statement isn't a good idea, suffice to say, if
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you'd like more info on that subject, you should read up on system
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security.<p>
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<li><h4>GPM</h4>: This has been so basic to my Linux experience
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that I would be crippled without it, in fact once when I flubbed
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an installation and didn't have it running, it became my first
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priority to correct that little oversight. The mere fact that the
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non unix OS seem not to have this is reason to upgrade to Linux,
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although I found a dos program that allows a similar use of the
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mouse on simtelnet. In a related matter, if you dual boot(most
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home boxes, I'd imagine)you might find yourself using
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<pre>ls -aF</pre>
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when you actually meant to type
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<pre>dir</pre>
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or
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<pre>cp</pre>
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when what you wanted was
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<pre>copy</pre>
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you can create batch files(like shell scripts) named for your
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favorite unix commands, using your favorite switches. Not as
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cool as dosemu or just plain staying in Linux, but ya gotta do
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what ya gotta do.
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</ul>
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<hr><p><h4>
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*Errata:</h4> No I don't really do "make dev" when I make a kernel
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(maybe I could blame it on my keyboard)make dep is what I meant.
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<hr><p>
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If you have a subject that you would like to see covered or have
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any corrections, comments or flames let me know, and I'll look
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into the matter.
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<a href="mailto:troll@net-link.net">troll@net-link.net</a><p>
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<b>See you next month!</b></center>
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<!--===================================================================-->
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<P> <hr> <P>
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<center><H4>Previous "Clueless at the Prompt" Columns</H4></center>
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<p>
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<A HREF="../issue14/clueless.html">Clueless at the Prompt #1 - Feburary 1997</A><br>
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<A HREF="../issue15/clueless.html">Clueless at the Prompt #2 - March 1997</A><br>
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<A HREF="../issue16/clueless.html">Clueless at the Prompt #3 - April 1997</A><br>
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<A HREF="../issue17/clueless.html">Clueless at the Prompt #4 - May 1997</A><br>
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<A HREF="../issue18/clueless.html">Clueless at the Prompt #5 - June 1997</A><br>
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<A HREF="../issue19/clue.html">Clueless at the Prompt #6 - July 1997</A><br>
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<A HREF="../issue21/clue.html">Clueless at the Prompt #7 - September 1997</A><br>
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<A HREF="../issue23/clue.html">Clueless at the Prompt #8 - December 1997</A><br>
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<A HREF="../issue25/clueless.html">Clueless at the Prompt #9 - February 1998</A>
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<P><HR><P>
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<center><H5>Copyright © 1998, Mike List<BR>
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Published in Issue 26 of <i>Linux Gazette</i>, March 1998</H5></center>
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