# Glossary

This section contains an alphabetical overview of commands discussed in this document.

## A

a2ps

  Format files for printing on a PostScript printer, see .

acroread

  PDF viewer, see .

adduser

  Create a new user or update default new user information.

alias

  Create a shell alias for a command.

alsaconf

  Configure sound card using the ALSA driver, see .

alsamixer

  Tune ALSA sound device output, see .

anacron

  Execute commands periodically, does not assume continuously running machine.

apropos

  Search the whatis database for strings, see .

apt-get

  APT package handling utility, see .

arecord

  Record a sound sample, see .

aspell

  Spell checker.

at, atq, atrm

  Queue, examine or delete jobs for later execution, see and .

aumix

  Adjust audio mixer, see .

(g)awk

  Pattern scanning and processing language.

## B

bash

  Bourne Again SHell, see and .

batch

  Queue, examine or delete jobs for later execution, see .

bg

  Run a job in the background, see .

bitmap

  Bitmap editor and converter utilities for the X window System.

bzip2

  A block-sorting file compressor, see .

## C

cardctl

  Manage PCMCIA cards, see .

cat

  Concatenate files and print to standard output, see and .

cd

  Change directory, see .

cdp/cdplay

  An interactive text-mode program for controlling and playing audio CD Roms under Linux, see .

cdparanoia

  An audio CD reading utility which includes extra data verification features, see .

cdrecord

  Record a CD-R, see .

chattr

  Change file attributes.

chgrp

  Change group ownership, see .

chkconfig

  Update or query run level information for system services, see .

chmod

  Change file access permissions, see , and .

chown

  Change file owner and group, see .

compress

  Compress files.

cp

  Copy files and directories, see .

crontab

  Maintain crontab files, see .

csh

  Open a C shell, see .

cut

  Remove sections from each line of file(s), see .

## D

date

  Print or set system date and time.

dd

  Convert and copy a file (disk dump), see .

df

  Report file system disk usage, see .

dhcpcd

  DHCP client daemon, see .

diff

  Find differences between two files.

dig

  Send domain name query packets to name servers, see .

dmesg

  Print or control the kernel ring buffer.

du

  Estimate file space usage.

dump

  Backup file system, see .

## E

echo

  Display a line of text, see .

ediff

  Diff to English translator.

egrep

  Extended grep.

eject

  Unmount and eject removable media, see .

emacs

  Start the Emacs editor, see .

exec

  Invoke subprocess(es), see .

exit

  Exit current shell, see .

export

  Add function(s) to the shell environment, see , and .

## F

fax2ps

  Convert a TIFF facsimile to PostScript, see .

fdformat

  Format floppy disk, see .

fdisk

  Partition table manipulator for Linux, see .

fetchmail

  Fetch mail from a POP, IMAP, ETRN or ODMR-capable server, see .

fg

  Bring a job in the foreground, see .

file

  Determine file type, see .

find

  Find files, see .

firefox

  Web browser, see .

fork

  Create a new process, see .

formail

  Mail (re)formatter, see .

fortune

  Print a random, hopefully interesting adage.

ftp

  Transfer files (unsafe unless anonymous account is used!)services, see .

## G

galeon

  Graphical web browser.

gdm

  Gnome Display Manager, see .

gedit

  GUI editor, see .

(min/a)getty

  Control console devices.

gimp

  Image manipulation program.

gpg

  Encrypt, check and decrypt files, see .

grep

  Print lines matching a pattern, see and .

groff

  Emulate nroff command with groff, see .

grub

  The grub shell, see and .

gv

  A PostScript and PDF viewer, see .

gvim

  Graphical version of the vIm editor, see .

gzip

  Compress or expand files, see .

## H

halt

  Stop the system, see .

head

  Output the first part of files, see .

help

  Display help on a shell built-in command.

host

  DNS lookup utility, see .

httpd

  Apache hypertext transfer protocol server, see .

## I

id

  Print real and effective UIDs and GIDs, see .

ifconfig

  Configure network interface or show configuration, see .

info

  Read Info documents, see .

init

  Process control initialization, see , and .

insserv

  Manage init scripts, see .

iostat

  Display I/O statistics, see .

ip

  Display/change network interface status, see .

ipchains

  IP firewall administration, see .

iptables

  IP packet filter administration, see .

## J

jar

  Java archive tool, see .

jobs

  List backgrounded tasks.

## K

kdm

  Desktop manager for KDE, see .

kedit

  KDE graphical editor, see .

kill(all)

  Terminate process(es), see .

konqueror

  File manager, (help) browser, see .

ksh

  Open a Korn shell, see .

kwrite

  KDE graphical editor, see .

## L

less

  `more` with features, see .

lilo

  Linux boot loader, see .

links

  Text mode WWW browser, see .

ln

  Make links between files, see .

loadkeys

  Load keyboard translation tables, see .

locate

  Find files, see and .

logout

  Close current shell, see .

lp

  Send requests to the LP print service, see .

lpc

  Line printer control program, see .

lpq

  Print spool queue examination program, see .

lpr

  Offline print, see .

lprm

  Remove print requests, see .

ls

  List directory content, see , and .

lynx

  Text mode WWW browser, see .

## M

mail

  Send and receive mail, see .

man

  Read man pages, see .

mc

  Midnight COmmander, file manager, see .

mcopy

  Copy MSDOS files to/from Unix.

mdir

  Display an MSDOS directory.

memusage

  Display memory usage, see .

memusagestat

  Display memory usage statistics, see .

mesg

  Control write access to your terminal, see .

mformat

  Add an MSDOS file system to a low-level formatted floppy disk, see .

mkbootdisk

  Creates a stand-alone boot floppy for the running system.

mkdir

  Create directory, see .

mkisofs

  Create a hybrid ISO9660 filesystem, see .

mplayer

  Movie player/encoder for Linux, see and .

more

  Filter for displaying text one screen at the time, see .

mount

  Mount a file system or display information about mounted file systems, see .

mozilla

  Web browser, see .

mt

  Control magnetic tape drive operation.

mtr

  Network diagnostic tool.

mv

  Rename files, .

## N

named

  Internet domain name server, see .

nautilus

  File manager, see .

ncftp

  Browser program for ftp services (insecure!), see .

netstat

  Print network connections, routing tables, interface statistics, masquerade connections, and multi-cast memberships, see and .

newgrp

  Log in to another group, see .

nfsstat

  Print statistics about networked file systems.

nice

  Run a program with modified scheduling priority, see .

nmap

  Network exploration tool and security scanner.

ntpd

  Network Time Protocol Daemon, see .

ntpdate

  Set the date and time via an NTP server, see .

ntsysv

  Simple interface for configuring run levels, see .

## O

ogle

  DVD player with support for DVD menus, see .

## P

passwd

  Change password, see and .

pccardctl

  Manage PCMCIA cards, see .

pdf2ps

  Ghostscript PDF to PostScript translator, see .

perl

  Practical Extraction and Report Language.

pg

  Page through text output, see .

pgrep

  Look up processes based on name and other attributes, see .

ping

  Send echo request to a host, see .

play

  Play a sound sample, see .

pr

  Convert text files for printing.

printenv

  Print all or part of environment, see .

procmail

  Autonomous mail processor, see .

ps

  Report process status, see and .

pstree

  Display a tree of processes, see .

pwd

  Print present working directory, see .

## Q

quota

  Display disk usage and limits, see .

## R

rcp

  Remote copy (unsafe!)

rdesktop

  Remote Desktop Protocol client, see .

reboot

  Stop the system, see .

recode

  Convert files to another character set, see .

renice

  Alter priority of a running process, see .

restore

  Restore backups made with `dump`, see .

rlogin

  Remote login (telnet, insecure!), see and .

rm

  Remove a file, see .

rmdir

  Remove a directory, see .

roff

  A survey of the roff typesetting system, see .

rpm

  RPM Package Manager, see .

rsh

  Remote shell (insecure!), see .

rsync

  Synchronize two directories, see .

## S

scp

  Secure remote copy, see .

screen

  Screen manager with VT100 emulation, see .

set

  Display, set or change variable.

setterm

  Set terminal attributes.

sftp

  Secure (encrypted) ftp, see and .

sh

  Open a standard shell, see .

shutdown

  Bring the system down, see .

sleep

  Wait for a given period, see .

slocate

  Security Enhanced version of the GNU Locate, see .

slrnn

  text mode Usenet client, see .

snort

  Network intrusion detection tool.

sort

  Sort lines of text files, see .

spell

  Spell checker, see .

ssh

  Secure shell, see .

ssh-keygen

  Authentication key generation, management and conversion, see .

stty

  Change and print terminal line settings.

su

  Switch user, see , and .

## T

tac

  Concatenate and print files in reverse, see .

tail

  Output the last part of files, see .

talk

  Talk to a user.

tar

  Archiving utility, see .

tcsh

  Open a Turbo C shell, see .

telinit

  Process control initialization, see .

telnet

  User interface to the TELNET protocol (insecure!), see .

tex

  Text formatting and typesetting, see .

time

  Time a simple command or give resource usage, see .

tin

  News reading program, see .

top

  Display top CPU processes, see , and .

touch

  Change file timestamps, see .

traceroute

  Print the route packets take to network host, see .

tripwire

  A file integrity checker for UNIX systems, see .

troff

  Format documents, see .

tvime

  A high quality television application.

twm

  Tab Window Manager for the X Window System.

## U

ulimit

  Controll resources, see .

umask

  Set user file creation mask, see .

umount

  Unmount a file system.

uncompress

  Decompress compressed files.

uniq

  Remove duplicate lines from a sorted file, see .

up2date

  Update RPM packages, see .

update

  Kernel daemon to flush dirty buffers back to disk.

update-rc.d

  Configure init scripts, see .

uptime

  Display system uptime and average load, see and .

urpmi

  Update RPM packages, see .

userdel

  Delete a user account and related files.

## V

vi(m)

  Start the vi (improved) editor, see .

vimtutor

  The Vim tutor.

vmstat

  Report virtual memory statistics, see .

## W

w

  Show who is logged on and what they are doing.

wall

  Send a message to everybody's terminal, see .

wc

  Print the number of bytes, words and lines in files, see .

which

  Shows the full path of (shell) commands, see and .

who

  Show who is logged on, see .

who am i

  Print effective user ID.

whois

  Query a whois or nicname database, see .

write

  Send a message to another user, see .

## X

xargs

  Build and execute command lines from standard input, see .

xauth

  X authority file utility.

xawtv

  An X11 program for watching TV.

xcdroast

  Graphical front end to cdrecord, see .

xclock

  Analog/digital clock for X.

xconsole

  Monitor system console messages with X.

xdm

  X Display Manager with support for XDMCP, host chooser, see and .

xdvi

  DVI viewer, see .

xedit

  X Window graphical editor, see .

xfs

  X font server.

xhost

  Server access control program for X, see .

xine

  A free video player, see .

xinetd

  The extended Internet services daemon, see .

xload

  System load average display for X, see .

xlsfonts

  Server font list displayer for X.

xmms

  Audio player for X, see .

xpdf

  PDF viewer, see .

xterm

  Terminal emulator for X.

## Y

yast

  System administration tool on Novell SuSE Linux.

yum

  Update RPM packages, see .

## Z

zapping

  A TV viewer for the Gnome environment.

zcat

  Compress or expand files.

zgrep

  Search possibly compressed files for a regular expression.

zmore

  Filter for viewing compressed text.