Debian Linux 
Linux is the free, non-evil and reliable OS with a penguin mascot. Debian is my favorite flavor.
- man cd is a help page about a command. q exits
- right-click on virtual desktop pans desktops
- middle-click on virtual desktop moves windows on other desktops without having to change to that screen
- alt-up/down/left/right moves between virtual desktops (num lock must be off!)
- alt-tab cycles between windows (num lock must be off!)
- | more displays large amounts of text screen by screen; press space to advance screen
- | less same as more but you can move backwards by pressing b
- xclock shows you the time, even though you may not want to know. Adding -chime makes it beep on the hour and half-hour.
- cd /tmp takes you to the temporary files so you can delete your pdfs that are taking up all the memory
- rm -i journal.html deletes file and asks for confirmation
- * wildcard (useful in deleting your tmp files: *p* will delete all ps and pdf files)
- ls -latrR --color lists directory contents. The -l (file properties like size, owner and date), a (shows hidden files; must be used with l) t (sorts by time; must be used with l) r (sorts in reverse time and must be used with t), R (yes, capital. It shows everything below the current directory) and --color (color codes file types) are optional
- cd ~ takes you to your home directory
- cd ~- takes to to the last directory you were in
- cd ../ takes you one level up
- if you type the first few letters of a file/directory, pressing tab will automatically complete the word
- Floppy disks
put disk in drive in the office (not in the terminal you're probably using right now!)
mount /floppy makes the contents of the disk available to you
cd /floppy brings you to the floppy disk directory
view the files (ls) and copy (cp) them to your own directory (ex: cp *jpg ~/public_html/pictures)
cd ~ exits the floppy directory (important!)
umount /floppy only after this command can you remove the disk from the drive
- xv schrodingerkeg.jpg opens image for viewing or editing (right-click on picture)
- xfig vector drawing program
- gv postscript & pdf viewer
- xpdf pdf viewer
- df shows what's going on in the computer (check if things are mounted, etc)
- su yiyi log in while someone else is. exit logs you out
- locate mot.html search
- gzip and gunzip zip and unzip files (compress/decompress them)
- cd public/journal/ ; ls -ltr a semicolon allows you to execute multiple commands...perfect for those lazy power users
- catdoc lab.doc > lab.txt changes a .doc file to a .txt file! Make sure you have the redirect, >
- scp ~me/localFile.txt notMe@otherNetwork.gov:~/transfered/file.txt secure copies file in local directory to another network. If you want to keep the original filename and put it into ~ use :.
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