This chapter covers: Intro, Short Unix vs. Linux, The Root User, Prompts, Getting to a Prompt
Introduction:

When I first began using Linux, I quickly found it to be a very steep learning curve. I found it even more complex when I wanted to get Linux on my treasured PPC macs. Now, I have a much better understanding of these things; however, that doesn't make them any easier for anyone else. This guide (which this chapter is a part of) is intended to teach you the basic knowledge needed to function in a Unix Command Line. This guide is intended to help fix issues that may arise after installing MintPPC.

Wait, You said Unix. I thought this was Linux?

Well, you are right on both. Linux is based on Unix. The ever-feuding BSDs (FreeBSD, NetBSD, & OpenBSD) are based on Unix. Mac OS X is based on Unix. iOS is based on Unix. While all of these are based on Unix, looking at them, they all seem very different. That is the beauty of Unix. It takes many forms, but the basics remain the same throughout all the Operating Systems I just mentioned.

BUT, enough of that quasi-computer-philosophy stuff, onto fixing things and doing things.


Vocabulary time:

Root User: This is the user that has privileges to do basically anything to the system, including damage that can easily destroy it. They are equivalent to administrators in Windows or Mac OS X. During installation you chose a root password. Do not forget it.

Prompt: This is a prompt

A prompt is where you enter commands such as: mv, halt, or sudo. The prompt only understands certain commands. It doesn't think or try to guess, it just compares what it is given to a list of commands it knows (Commands and paths are case sensitive.) and if it doesn't find it says

The first part, "root", indicates the currently logged in user. The second part, "@debian", indicates the machine name. In other words, you are user root logged in @ machine debian.

Assuming you can log in (if you can't, please look to the issue section), there are two ways to get to a prompt. First is to open a shell emulator, Terminal or LXterminal. They are nearly the same. LXterminal is a tad more efficient, better for older hardware, but probably won't make a difference. The other way is through a TTY. This is like a command line only desktop. By default, there are 7 TTYs. TTY7 is where your graphical desktop is displayed. To access a different TTY, hold control and alt while pressing F1. The F number coordinates to the TTY you wish to enter. Ctrl+Alt+F3 enters TTY3 and so forth. These are helpful is you want to run commands while doing something on your graphical session without a pile of Terminal windows open. Once at the prompt you can begin entering commands.