Starter Reference for Ubuntu Users

Here is a blog post I have referred to a number of times recently in my adventures with Ubuntu.

Synaptic? deb? sudo? apt? Damn! I still remember when I first installed Ubuntu (my first encounter with Linux). But God bless Google, Ubuntu Forums, a few other resources and Blogs. Things became easier than I thought. Here, I will be posting a reference about Ubuntu things! And to end with top 5 Ubuntu resources on web for Ubuntu starters.

Privileges

sudo command – run command as root
sudo -s – open a root shell
sudo -s -u user – open a shell as user
sudo -k – forget sudo passwords
gksudo command – visual sudo dialog (GNOME)
kdesudo command – visual sudo dialog (KDE)
sudo visudo – edit /etc/sudoers
gksudo nautilus – root file manager (GNOME)
kdesudo konqueror – root file manager (KDE)
passwd – change your password

Display

sudo /etc/init.d/gdm restart – restart X and return to login (GNOME)
sudo /etc/init.d/kdm restart – restart X and return to login (KDE)
sudo dexconf – reset xorg.conf configuration
Ctrl+Alt+Bksp – restart X display if frozen
Ctrl+Alt+FN – switch to tty N
Ctrl+Alt+F7 – switch back to X display

System Services

(Prefix commands with sudo to run)

start service – start job service (Upstart)
stop service – stop job service (Upstart)
status service – check if service is running (Upstart)
/etc/init.d/service start – start service (SysV)
/etc/init.d/service stop – stop service (SysV)
/etc/init.d/service status – check service (SysV)
/etc/init.d/service restart – restart service (SysV)
runlevel – get current runlevel

Package Mangement

(Prefix commands with sudo to run)

apt-get update – refresh available updates
apt-get upgrade – upgrade all packages
apt-get dist-upgrade – upgrade with package
replacements; upgrade Ubuntu version
apt-get install pkg – install pkg
apt-get purge pkg – uninstall pkg
apt-get autoremove – remove obsolete packages
apt-get -f install – try to fix broken packages
dpkg –configure -a – try to fix broken packages
dpkg -i pkg.deb – install file pkg.deb
(file) /etc/apt/sources.list – APT repository list

Network

ifconfig – show network information
iwconfig – show wireless information
sudo iwlist scan – scan for wireless networks
sudo /etc/init.d/networking restart – reset
network for manual configurations
(file) /etc/network/interfaces – manual configuration
ifup interface – bring interface online
ifdown interface – disable interface

Special Packages

linux-headers-generic – latest build headers
ubuntu-desktop – standard Ubuntu environment
kubuntu-desktop – KDE desktop
xubuntu-desktop – XFCE desktop
ubuntu-minimal – core Ubuntu utilities
ubuntu-standard – standard Ubuntu utilities
ubuntu-restricted-extras – non-free, but useful
kubuntu-restricted-extras – KDE of the above
xubuntu-restricted-extras – XFCE of the above
build-essential – packages used to compile programs
linux-image-generic – latest generic kernel image

Applications Name

nautilus – file manager (GNOME)
dolphin – file manager (KDE)
konqueror – web browser (KDE)
kate – text editor (KDE)
gedit – text editor (GNOME)

System

lsb_release -a – get Ubuntu version
uname -r – get kernel version
uname -a – get all kernel information

Top 5 web resoureses for Ubuntu Starters

http://ubuntuforums.org/ (Great, helpful and most responsive community)

http://www.ubuntugeek.com/ (A lot of Tips and Tricks)

http://www.gnome-look.org/ (Add a little flavor to Gnome)

http://tombuntu.com/ (Nice Ubuntu Blog)

http://lifehacker.com/ (Not specific to Ubuntu but they have a lot of good Ubuntu articles)

And here is the bonus

http://fosswire.com/ (the source of above information)

Hope, this might help you in your Ubuntu venture. If you like the post, please Digg or Stumble it.

http://yabblog.com/2008/10/25/ubuntu-reference/  My source of this information.