Pre-exam for Linux Basics - Spring 2008

Didn’t get a place on last Linux Basics? Course was full? Now it’s your chance!

Because many students want to participate but there is a limited number of places, a fair way of giving out places is needed. That’s why there will be pre-exam for Linux Basics in the spring 2008. Order in Winha does not matter, places are given in the order determined by the pre-exam.

The pre-exam is on the first class, week 3 Tuesday, 2008-01-15 at 08:15 in computer lab h5013.

Just read this page and come to the first class. You don’t need to install Linux or try the software beforehand. You don’t need to read all the linked pages marked as sources. Don’t worry if you don’t understand everything below perfectly, I’ll explain it all in the course.

You can download most Linux distributions for free from their homepages. For example, you can get Ubuntu from ubuntu.com/download. Just choose the default image (desktop, latest version, x86/32 bit, download from Finland).

Ubuntu Desktop installation CD is also a Live-CD. Live CD means that you can boot from the CD to try Linux Desktop without installing. When you are done, simply reboot the computer and remove the CD to get back to your old system.

All of these programs are included in the default installation of many Linux distributions, such as Ubuntu.

• Firefox - Web browser
• OpenOffice.org - An office suite, compatible with Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint.
• GIMP - Edit photographs
• Gedit (Accessories: Text Editor) - Text editor with syntax highlight for Java, HTML, XML and many others.
• Nautilus - File browser. To burn files to CD, just insert a blank CD. To burn a CD from image, right click an ISO image.

(Sources: Ubuntu Desktop Edition)

• / - Root directory, contains all files that are accessible. There are no drive letters like “C:\”.
  • /home/ - Contains home directories for all users
    • /home/tkarvine/ - Home directory of a user called “tkarvine”. Users can only store data into their home directories.
  • /etc/ - Configuration files that affect the whole system. For example, settings for hardware and servers.
  • /var/ - Variable files, written by servers (AKA daemons)
  • /media/ - Movable media are shown under /media/ when they are mounted (connected to the system)
    • /media/usbdisk/ - USB mass storage, such as an mp3 player or a camera.
    • /media/cdrom/ - Cdrom is shown here when mounted.
  • /tmp/ - Temporary files. Anything stored to /tmp/ is erased automatically later.

(Source: Filesystem Hierarchy Standard, local mirror)

pwd - print working directory

ls - list files (in working directory)

cd .. - go up one level, making working directory (pwd) shorter. Note space between command “cd” and directory “..”

cd somefolder/ - go to “somefolder” (that must be shown when you type ls)

nano foo.txt - edit “foo.txt”, press ctrl-X to save and exit

(Source: Karvinen 2007: Command Line)

Software is considered Free (as in Freedom), if it gives users all these four rights:

1. Run
2. Study
3. Modify
4. Distribute

(Source: Free Software Foundation: Free software definition, local mirror).

GPL is the most popular Free license. Because it’s a free license, it allows users to use, study, modify and distribute. GPL has one important restriction: You can’t limit the rights of the users receiving the software. To use GPL for a program or text, you can add this boilerplate text: “Copyright 2007 YOUR NAME. GNU General Public License, version 2 or later. ”

(Adapted from: Free Software Foundation: How to use the GNU licenses for your own software)