Linux Command-Line Tips & Tricks

THERE’S NO EXCUSE not to school yourself in the ways of Linux command-line operations. Whether you’re accessing the Terminal on your Linux desktop, logged directly into the Bash shell, or intrigued by Windows 10’s support for CLI-based Linux distros, you’ve come to the right place. We’re going to assume you know the basics of Linux’s Bash shell and command language—check out our August 2017 edition (Vol. 22, No. 9) for a starter’s guide if you need it—but as a quick reminder, Bash uses a relatively straightforward syntax for each command: $ utility command -option

The utility portion of the command is the tool you wish to run, such as ls for listing the contents of a directory, or apt-get for triggering the package management tool.

The command section is where you specify exactly what you want the utility to do. Typing apt-get install instructs the package management utility to install the named package, such as: $ apt-get install vlc

The -option section is where one or more “flags” can be set to specify preferences. Each flag is preceded by one or two dashes, and the most useful is the --help option, which gives a description of the utility, plus available commands and options. Utilities can be run on their own, with a single