Re: Tips

[David Webster <cog@seul.org>]

On Thu, 9 Mar 2000, S. Lockwood wrote:

> > TIPS
> > ======
[...]
> Please, PLEASE mention 'man -k <keyword>' and 'man -K <keyword>' in the
> tip about 'man'! I have been suprised at how long it takes people to learn
> about these tricks -- it's no wonder people get frustrated with man when
> they can only use it to learn about commands they already know the name of. 

How about:
Looking for a command you don't know the name off? Try searching the
manual (man) pages with: man -k <keyword>

Also:

Want to know the full path of a command? Try: whereis <command>

Looking for a calculator on linux? Try 'bc'. e.g.: echo "4 + 3" | bc
[could do with some work and rewording]

Want to clear the screen, and start with a blank one? Try "clear".

Want to leave the terminal securely, without having to logout? Try the
command: "vlock"

Want to search a file for a specif word, or group of words? Have a look at
the 'grep' command with: man grep

Want to send the output of a program to a file? Try redirecting the output
with ">" or ">>" e.g.: date > file, will write the date to 'file', and:
date >> file, will add the date to the bottom of 'file'.

Looking for a specific file, or type of file? Have a look at the
comprehensive 'find' command with: man find

You can use the command 'tail' to display the bottom 'X' number of lines
of a file: tail -X <file>. The "-X" part may be ommitted if you wish.

The tail command can also be used to track changes to a file as they
happen: tail -f <file>

To count the number of words, charactures and/or lines in a text file
'file', you can use the command: wc <file>

To spell check a text document, you can use a program called ispell:
ispell <file>.

To look up words in the system dictionary, use the command: look <word>

Looking for the delete command? Try 'rm'

Want to send the output of a command to both a file and your screen? Have
a look at the tee command.

Want to compress or archive your files? Take a look at the 'tar' and
'gzip' man pages.

> Also, using the [options] <argument> syntax should be briefly explained --
> you don't want anyone typing literal 
> man <startx>

Yep, good point. We cannot assume they'll understand. But how best to do
it? Have it as the first tip ala;

Welcome to Indy's tip program. Everytime you log in you will presented
with a tip that we hope will make using linux easier and more efficient.
To disable the tips, to view details on the use of syntax, or to change
your preferance settings, just type "tips" (without the quotes) at the
prompt.
 
[Or something like that.]

I said there'd be more.

David
--
David Webster |   cognite.net    | Project Independence Linux, Security:
cog@seul.org  | cogito, ergo sum | http://independence.seul.org/security/
     Our moral progression cannot begin until we have independence