UNIX Commands Guide


This is a guide to some basic UNIX commands. It is intended for people with little or no experience with UNIX. It will teach you how to manipulate files and directories, communicate with other UNIX users, as well as some other useful and fun stuff that UNIX can do. Some of the commands are local to Brown, while others are supported on all UNIX systems.

*note: The man page links are only available from within the Brown cs department. If you are local and still getting errors, use http://localhost/whatever instead of http://www.cs.brown.edu/whatever.

What is a Shell?
Simple Commands
Files and Directories
Communication Commands
Process Commands
Text Editors
Using Printers
X Server and Display
Miscellaneous Commands
Fun Stuff and Games

What is a Shell?

A shell is basically the user interface in UNIX. It is a program that allows the system to understand your commands. The shell has three main uses: