This is a basic guide to using a shell account on a Linux system, 
specifically written for the students of Montgomery Blair High School 
using our linux server binx. Some commands are binx specific, but most 
apply to any Unix-like system. For more information go to 
http://mblug.mbhs.edu or email the list at mblug@mbhs.edu.

--History of Linux--
Back in the day (1991), a Finnish college student named Linus Torvalds 
created a reimplementation of UNIX (a computer operating system (OS)) 
created by Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie in 1969 for use at Bell Labs 
and eventually at universities and government installations) called Linux. 
Since then its popularity has grown and thus is more widely used. It is 
now more commonly used as a server OS, but is now becoming a more viable 
desktop OS.  The benefits of Linux include it's speed, stability, and 
ability to be easily customized.  It will run on Intel PCs at home, but 
has also been ported to the Macintosh and various other architectures. One 
of the biggest benefits of Linux is the fact that it's source is open and 
it is available for free.  This means that coders can download the source 
code, install it on their home computers, make modifications to the source 
code, and send them back to Linus for inclusion in later versions. There 
are also various companies (Red Hat, SuSE, Mandrake, Debian) who sell 
nicely packaged versions of Linux, at a minimal cost.

--History of binx--
Binx is in its fourth hardware version. Binxiv is a Dual Xeon
3.4GHz Dell PowerEdge server with 2GB of RAM and is hosted off a private
T1 internet connection. Currently binx is running Debian testing. Binx
and the rest of the Unix network is maintained by Peter Hammond and the
student sysops, who can be reached by emailing maxop@mbhs.edu. Binx does
many things for many people. It hosts BEN, Silverchips and all the other
mbhs.edu websites, it provides a system that students in advanced
programming classes can use that is far more stable then the Windows or
Mac desktops they could use in class, and binx also provides a fun system to
play around with for students interested in learning Linux, but who don't
want to jump into it head first by installing it at home. With the other
servers at Blair, binx also provides internet access for some students and
staff and other web related services. Check out the Blazernet Project for more
information (http://blazernet.mbhs.edu).


--A few important notes--
In this guide a word with <>s around it means that a valid argument should 
be substituted for the word. Unless stated otherwise, things in quotes 
don't mean explicidly use quotes, treat the text inside it as what you 
enter, ignoring the quotes. You'll get the picture.

In Linux no news is good news. When you enter a command and get no 
feedback or info, just sent to the prompt again, this is good. This almost 
always means the program completed succesfully. 

Tab Completion can be used to greatly shorten time spent finding files. 
Begin to type the file name, then press tab. This will fill in as much 
data as can be found, either a full file/directory name or part of it. For 
example, if you have 'Ex101' and 'Ex102' in a directory you could type 'Ex 
[tab]' and it would fill in 'Ex10' and wait for you to enter more 
characters.

The up arrow key can be pressed to get the previously entered command. 
Press again to go back another command.

There is NO undo. Once you move, delete or edit a file you're stuck with 
it. I highly recommend you make copies of things that are important before 
you do any changes. Just adding a .bak to the end of the filename is 
enough to prevent disaster, ie 'cp <old file> <oldfilename.bak>'.

Switches are used to modify a command. They're generally added into the 
command with '-<letter>' (or sometimes '--<word>' For example, 'grep 
<term> <file>' would select all the lines in <file> that contain <term>. I 
could change this to 'grep -v <term> <file>' to select all the lines that 
do NOT contain <term>.

Linux is case sensitive; 'File', 'FILE' and 'file' are NOT the same thing.
Many programs that are simply 'command <file>' operate exactly the same if 
they get data piped into them. For example 'who | less' would operate the 
same as if the info came from a text file you specified.

There are several things that refer to specific directories. A ~ refers to 
your home directory, while '~<user>' refers to another user's home 
directory. If you use '.' In a path that refers to the current directory, 
while '..' refers to one directory above the current one. If a path to a 
file starts with a '/' it is from the root directory, otherwise it is 
relative (found in relation to the directory you are currently in).

--Redirectors--
<prgm1> | <prgm2>	sends output of first program to second.  Example: 
w | sort runs w, and then sends the output to the  program sort, which 
sorts it and puts it on the   screen.

<prgm1> > <file> 	sends output of first program to file.  Example:  
w > foo makes a file called foo with the output of  w in it.  >> can be 
used to append  output to an  existing file.

<prgm1> < <file> 	takes input from file and sends to program. 
Example: mail josborn < foo would mail me the contents of file foo.


--Control Characters--
Most programs (pico, pine, links2, etc.) will have instructions at the 
bottom of the screen.  ^X means to hold down control and press X.  These 
are control characters.  ^L is useful to clear someone's write message 
when working in another program. ^Z can put a program in the background. 
'fg' will bring it back up. ^C is usually to cancel the program. Example: 
If you write someone or someone writes you, ^C will get you back to the 
binx prompt.


binx/Linux commands (not all of them!):

--MOVING AROUND--
cd <directory>	changes the directory from the current directory, to the 
specified directory.  Once logged in, you are in your home directory.
cd	by itself, changes to your home directory.
cd ..	go up a directory.
ls	lists files in the current directory.
ls -a	lists hidden files in the directory.
ls -l	long listing, shows size and type of file.
pwd	Print Working Directory, display the full path of the directory 
	you're currently in

--FILES--
nano <file>	basic text editor.  Opens file if file is specified, 
otherwise opens a new file.
cat <file>	outputs the specified file
less <file>	outputs the file, but lets you scroll through it at your 
leasure. Press ./. (no quotes) to search through the file
grep <term> <file>	outputs every line in <file> where <term> appears. 
Commonly used in redirectors, ie 'w | grep chmullig' to get just the 
entries for user chmullig
grep -v <term> <file>	outputs every line in <file> where <term> does NOT 
appear
sort <file>	sorts each input alphabetically then outputs it. Often 
used for piped commands, ie .who | sort. to get an alphabetical list of 
who is logged in
head <-n <lines>> <file>	prints the first 10 or number specified, 
lines of a text file or the input
tail	same as head, but the last 10/x lines



--PLAYING WELL WITH OTHERS--
pine	email client  
pine -i	moves you directly to the inbox.
who/w	display who is logged in
finger <user>	get a user's info. Displays schedule and other info. If 
run without a username displays a list of who is logged in
write <user>	posts a message to the the user's screen. 
		Note:  this can be annoying if the person is working on something.  
		Please don't abuse this. It is possible to clear write messages by holding 
		down control and pressing L (^L).
ytalk <user>	a chat type program.  Either starts a new session and 
		invites user, or connects to user's session.
ytalk -x	if ytalk does not work the first time, try this option.
mesg <y/n>	sets write/recieve capability to on or off. 

--FUN STUFF--
hello	prints the welcome screen
fortune	prints a fortune cookies
fortune magnet	prints a magnet fortune cookie (you'll see)
figlet <text>	translates into large ASCII text either the text entered, 
		or opens up an interactive prompt where you can enter text repetitivly
cmatrix -b	Follow the white rabbit.
chfn		change your info that shows up when people finger you
.plan and .project	These aren't programs, they're files in your home
			home directory that show up when you're fingered.


--ADMINISTRATION--
mv <file> <new file>	moves file to new file.  Also used to rename.
cp <file> <copy file>	copies file to copy file.
rm <file>	deletes file. USE CAREFULLY, there is no undo
rm -rf <directory>	removes an entire directory and all it's files. 
USE CAREFULLY, there is no undo
mkdir <dirname>  	makes a new directory dirname.
rmdir <dirname>	deletes directory dirname (must be empty).
passwd			change your password
diff <file> <file>	find the differences between file1 and file2. Can 
			also use stdin and stdout.


--OTHER--
links2 <url>	text based web browser.  Starts out at the specified url.
wget <url>	download a http or ftp file to the current directory

--HELP YOURSELF--
man <command>	brings up a help screen with an explanation of the  
command and all the options available. 
<command> --help	many commands can print a basic help guide (for 
arguments, etc) when run with the .--help. switch
apropos <search>	This will search for a command to do something, 
based on either part of the command name or it's function.
		Example: 'apropos browser' would give you the command and 
a description of 'links2', 'ncftp' and 'pilot' which are used for web, ftp 
and file browsing respectively. 



Version History...
v1 Justin Osborn (josborn)
v1.5 Chris Mulligan (chmullig)
v1.6 Chris Mulligan (chmullig) 10/30/03
v1.7 Kevin McGehee (kemcgehe) 6/5/05