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Unix, Linux, and You
CS155 Overview
What is Unix?
- Unix is a multi-user operating system.
- Unix was developed at Bell Labs in 1969.
- Linux is a free and open-source version of Unix.
- Today, many incarnations of Linux exist. They are often known as distros which is short for distributions.
- Most CS Department machines run Linux, but some machine run Microsoft Windows or Solaris.
What is Linux?
- X / Terminal - graphical user interface
- Shell - command line interface to run programs and display results
- Programs - provide thousands of features
- Kernel - the low level operating system
- Resources - file system, network, printers, ...
Logging In
% date
Thu Apr 25 17:39:44 MDT 2024
% pwd
/s/parsons/c/fac/davematt
% exit
- What happens once I’m in?
- A shell window is opened
- If you don’t get a shell, then press Alt-F2,
type “gnome-terminal” and press Enter.
- Alt like Shift; hold it down while you type F2.
- F2 is a single key, way up at the top of the keyboard, even higher than the “3” key.
- A prompt is presented
- Type commands (such as “date” or “pwd”) at the prompt.
- To get out of the shell, type “exit”, and press Enter.
Special Characters
~ tilde
@ at sign
^ caret
_ underscore
/ slash, forward slash
\ backslash
# pound sign, hash
& ampersand, and sign
! exclamation mark, bang
% percent sign
* asterisk, star
| vertical bar, pipe
( ) parentheses, parens
[ ] square brackets
{ } curly brackets, braces
" double quote
' single quote
` backquote, accent grave
