X Terminal for Beginners
Contents |
X Terminal Commands Explained for Noobs
Well this is what we have so far I used a couple links and tested commands myself, to see if they actually worked and were not dangerous just in case anyone was trying to mess with us Noobs.
The list will increase as we go along learning together, and shall be separated with headings for easy use. Please no trolling, this is for constructive purposes.
When placing up a new command that isn't already on the list, make sure to place it under the most appropriate heading and also place with it an explanation of what it does and a working example.
Make reference to http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=63034 if you have any questions and http://wiki.maemo.org/Terminal and the books provided by anthonie here http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=63052 for more commands which you can use to help yourself or others. Thank you from T&T, West Indies
A good tip
In the bottom of the X terminal you find the "tab-key". The tab-key will autocomplete commands/directory/files when pressed. If you want to see whats in a specific directory you could double tab. The tab function is a very good way and should be a habit. It doesn't only make using the xterm faster. It also makes sure you didn't spell anything wrong.
ls /home/opt/themes/sun[tab]
will finish the word as "sunset".
ls /home/opt/[tab][tab]
shows you what's in the opt folder ex. the "themes" folder
Another god tip is "ctrl+c". You will find Ctrl-key on the keyborad. Together wit "c" it will cancel any previously given command (NOTE: can also be used in DOS terminals)
[Ctrl-key] c
Ex. if you write "find /" it will start listing all the files on the n900. If you press ctrl+c it will stop.
Application Manager
To use apt-get you will need to become super user (also known as root). As a super user you will have complete rights to all of the system. Which means you will have permission for files outside your /home/ directory. To be able to become super user you need to install Rootsh. Rootsh can be installed from you application manager. To use it.. just write
sudo gainroot and then apt-get <command>
apt-get update
updates local metadata detailing what apps are available in the repsitories. This is important so apt-get can find the latest software.
apt-get upgrade -y
upgrades any installed apps with newer versions (the -y is optional and just avoids it prompting you as to whether or not to proceed)
apt-get clean
will remove any dowmloaded package archives. Once the package is installed the dowmloaded file is no longer needed. The App Man does this automatically but if you're using "apt-get" you'll have to do it manually
apt-get autoclean
same as "apt-get clean" but only removes package archives which are obsolete (no longer in repsitories). Having run "apt-get clean it's pointless to run this command
apt-get autoremove
removes any packages which are no longer needed. These are applications/libraries which were automatically installed because of dependencies but are no longer required
apt-get -f install
installs any missing dependencies (which should fix the broken packages issue I had)
Exploring Files/Searching
ls
view inside a directory (e.g. "ls /home/user" allows you to see inside the "user" directory)
ls -a
view all files, even the hidden ones (e.g. ls -a /home/user)
ls -l
view it like a list (e.g. ls -l /home/user)
ls -la
lists hidden files and directories
cd
changes directory (e.g. cd MyDocs would send you into MyDocs so if you're unzipping something the sytem will look in MyDocs for the desired folder to be unzipped)
pwd
tells you the directory you are in (pwd stands for "present working directory")
find / | grep <place name of file/folder in question here>
Searches and gives results for all files or folders with that name. It will search the complete system.
find /home/ | grep <name of file/folder>
Will look for a folder/file in the home directory and it's subdirectories. You can easily change the directory if you know where the files are located. (e.g. find /home/user/MyDocs/ | grep <file/folder name>. Will find file or folder for you in MyDocs. It's an easy way to check if something is really where it's supposed to be if you don't have a file explorer such as Cute Explorer or Filebox.
ls -laS /
shows you your biggest folders/files in the different locations (e.g. ls -laS /home/user or ls -laS /home/user/opt will show you the biggest files in "user" and "opt")
dpkg -l
shows you a list of all your programmes installed including those not visible in App Manager.
Removing Files/Programmes [WARNING! BE VERY CAREFUL WHEN USING THESE COMMANDS]
rm -r
removes all files or folders in a specific location (e.g. rm -r /home/user/opt will delete all files in "opt" so DON'T RUN THIS COMMAND)
rm
removes a file e.g. rm /home/user/opt/themes/sunset/file1 would delete "file1" in the "sunset" folder