How to get more information with Linux
ow we'll talk about some other commands that you
will probably need in your day to day work with Linux. They make your
work a little easier and give you added information about your system.
'man' - manual pages in Linux
The first command is 'man'. This command will show the manual for a
command or program. The manual is a file that shows you how to use the
command and list the different options for the command in question. You
would type:
Code:
man [the command]
For example, if you type
Code:
man mkdir
The manual file for 'mkdir' will come up and give you a detailed explanation of this command.
Managing Documentation in Linux
The manual file for 'mkdir' is actually one of the more straight-forward
ones. There are a lot that I think we're written by Harry Bigbrains and
they were meant to be seen only by Richard Biggerbrain who's sitting in
the cubicle next to him.
For example, this appears in the 'man' file for 'cp'
By default, sparse SOURCE files are detected by a crude heuristic and
the corresponding DEST file is made sparse as well. That is the behavior
selected by --sparse=auto. Specify --sparse=always to create a sparse
DEST file whenever the SOURCE file contains a long enough sequence of
zero bytes. Use --sparse=never to inhibit creation of sparse files.
I don't know about you, but I'm going to call my lawyer. I've been assaulted by "a crude heuristic".
If you use the command cp --help, you'll get a nutshell version of the 'cp' command.
If you use your pipe cp --help | less, it'll be a little easier to manage.
The 'info' format
Typing info [command name] will get you more information on a command
and is more current than most man files and perhaps a little more
readable. In fact, some 'man' files will actually tell you to consult
the 'info' file. The 'info' files are not always installed
automatically. so you may want to consult your own version of Linux
about these files.
Apropos
The word 'apropos' means pertinent to something else. There is a command
that will show you all of the man page that may shed some light on a
certain command. For example, if I typed:
Code:
apropos xterm
resize (1x) - set TERMCAP and terminal settings to current xterm window size
xterm (1x) - terminal emulator for X
terms (5) - database of blessed terminals for xtermset.
xtermset (1) - change settings of an xterm
These are all man pages related to xterm. You would then just choose one of these and type man terms for example.
Some versions of Linux that are made for languages other than English
will give you this documentation in its particular language. There are
also websites that specialize in documentation in other languages. You
can use your favorite Internet search engine to find Linux documentation
in your own language.
Views | |
---|---|
1 | Total Views |
1 | Members Views |
0 | Public Views |
Actions | |
---|---|
0 | Likes |
0 | Dislikes |
0 | Comments |
Share by mail
Please login to share this webpage by email.