Learn Linux in a Month of Lunches

306 Pages·2016·18.64 MB·English

by  Steven Ovadia

Learn Linux in a
Month of Lunches
STEVEN OVADIA
MANNING
SHELTER ISLAND
ii
For online information and ordering of this and other Manning books, please visit
www.manning.com. The publisher offers discounts on this book when ordered in quantity.
For more information, please contact
Special Sales Department
Manning Publications Co.
20 Baldwin Road
PO Box 761
Shelter Island, NY 11964
Email: [email protected]
©2017 by Manning Publications Co. All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in
any form or by means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise, without prior written
permission of the publisher.
Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are
claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in the book, and Manning
Publications was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been printed in initial caps
or all caps.
Recognizing the importance of preserving what has been written, it is Manning’s policy to have
the books we publish printed on acid-free paper, and we exert our best efforts to that end.
Recognizing also our responsibility to conserve the resources of our planet, Manning books are
printed on paper that is at least 15 percent recycled and processed without elemental chlorine.
Manning Publications Co. Development editor: Frances Lefkowitz
20 Baldwin Road Technical development editor: Gary Park
PO Box 761 Copyeditor: Benjamin Berg
Shelter Island, NY 11964 Proofreader: Elizabeth Martin
Technical proofreader: Mayur Patil
Typesetter: Marija Tudor
Cover designer: Leslie Haimes
ISBN: 9781617293283
Printed in the United States of America
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 – EBM – 21 20 19 18 17 16
brief contents
PART 1 GETTING LINUX UP AND RUNNING ............................... 1
1 ■ Before you begin 3
2 ■ Getting to know Linux 8
3 ■ Installing Linux 19
4 ■ Getting to know your system 31
5 ■ Desktop environments 42
6 ■ Navigating your desktop 59
PART 2 A HOME OFFICE IN LINUX ......................................... 79
7 ■ Installing software 81
8 ■ An introduction to Linux home/office software 98
9 ■ Text files and editors 114
10 ■ Working with files and folders on the command line 125
11 ■ Working with common command-line
applications, part 1 133
12 ■ Working with common command-line
applications, part 2 143
13 ■ Using the command line productively 151
14 ■ Explaining the Linux filesystem hierarchy 162
iii
iv BRIEF CONTENTS
15 ■ Windows programs in Linux 171
16 ■ Establishing a workflow 180
PART 3 HOME SYSTEM ADMIN ON LINUX ............................. 193
17 ■ An in-depth look at package management and
maintenance 195
18 ■ Updating the operating system 205
19 ■ Linux security 215
20 ■ Connecting to other computers 229
21 ■ Printing 240
22 ■ Version control for non-programmers 251
23 ■ Never the end 263
contents
foreword xiii
preface xiv
acknowledgments xvi
about this book xviii
PART 1 GETTING LINUX UP AND RUNNING ................... 1
1 Before you begin 3
1.1 Why Linux matters 3
1.2 Is this book for you? 4
1.3 Using this book 5
The main chapters 5 ■ Hands-on labs 5 ■ Further
exploration 6
1.4 Setting up your lab environment 6
1.5 Online resources 7
1.6 Being immediately effective with Linux 7
2 Getting to know Linux 8
2.1 Distributions 8
2.2 Ubuntu 10
Debian 10 ■ Fedora 12 ■ Linux Mint 13
v
vi CONTENTS
Arch 14 ■ Other distributions 14
2.3 Choosing a distribution 15
2.4 Repositories 16
2.5 The Linux kernel 17
2.6 Wrapping up 18
2.7 Lab 18
3 Installing Linux 19
3.1 Live vs. installation 20
3.2 Creating a Linux boot image 20
3.3 Burn the image to DVD 21
3.4 Install the image to USB 21
3.5 Boot from the image 23
Installation preparation 24 ■ Installation type 25
Where are you? 26 ■ Keyboard layout 26 ■ Who are
you? 27
3.6 Common issues 28
3.7 Purchasing hardware with Linux installed 28
3.8 Wrapping up 29
3.9 Lab 29
4 Getting to know your system 31
4.1 Identifying hardware 32
4.2 Drivers 34
4.3 Codecs 37
4.4 Using log files 37
4.5 Finding help 39
4.6 Wrapping up 41
4.7 Lab 41
5 Desktop environments 42
5.1 Desktop environments 43
5.2 GNOME 44
Interface 44 ■ Customizing 46 ■ Software 47
5.3 KDE 47
Interface 47 ■ Customizing 47 ■ Software 51
CONTENTS vii
5.4 Unity 52
Interface 52 ■ Customizing 53 ■ Software 53
5.5 Xfce 53
Interface 53 ■ Customizing 54 ■ Software 54
5.6 Choosing a desktop environment 55
5.7 Wrapping up 57
5.8 Lab 57
6 Navigating your desktop 59
6.1 Working with programs 59
Finding programs 59 ■ Launching programs 62 ■ Closing
programs 63 ■ Top menu bars 63 ■ Customizing your
dock 64
6.2 Working with files and folders 66
Creating folders 66 ■ Creating files 68 ■ Opening files 68
Moving folders and files 71 ■ Copying folders and files 73
Deleting folders and files 74 ■ Changing the look of the folders
and files 75
6.3 Wrapping up 76
6.4 Lab 77
PART 2 A HOME OFFICE IN LINUX .............................. 79
7 Installing software 81
7.1 Package managers 82
7.2 Ubuntu Software Center 84
7.3 Synaptic 91
7.4 Wrapping up 96
7.5 Lab 96
8 An introduction to Linux home/office software 98
8.1 Office/productivity 99
LibreOffice 99 ■ Calligra 101 ■ Email clients 102
Choosing your office program(s) 104
8.2 Image editing 105
GIMP 105 ■ LibreOffice Draw 108
viii CONTENTS
8.3 Multimedia 109
Movies 109 ■ Music 110
8.4 Wrapping up 112
8.5 Lab 112
9 Text files and editors 114
9.1 Getting to know text editors 115
gedit 115 ■ Vim 116 ■ Emacs 118
9.2 Working with text editors 120
Writing with text editors 120 ■ Going under the hood
with text files 121
9.3 Wrapping up 122
9.4 Lab 123
10 Working with files and folders on the command line 125
10.1 Working with files and folders 126
Creating folders 127 ■ Creating files 128 ■ Copying folders
and files 128 ■ Moving folders and files 130
Deleting folders and files 131
10.2 Wrapping up 131
10.3 Lab 132
11 Working with common command-line applications, part 1 133
11.1 top 133
11.2 Kill commands 137
xkill 137 ■ killall 138
11.3 wget 139
11.4 grep 140
11.5 Wrapping up 141
11.6 Lab 142
12 Working with common command-line applications, part 2 143
12.1 su and sudo for administrative tasks 143
su 144 ■ sudo 144
12.2 Installing and removing software with the command line 145
CONTENTS ix
12.3 Read the manual with the man command 147
12.4 Grow commands with pipes and redirects 148
12.5 Wrapping up 149
12.6 Lab 150
13 Using the command line productively 151
13.1 Alternative terminal interfaces 151
Guake 152 ■ Terminator 154
13.2 Customizing the terminal 156
13.3 Saving time in the terminal 159
Last command(s) 159 ■ history command 159 ■ Searching
commands 160 ■ Autocompleting commands 160
Copying and pasting 160
13.4 Wrapping up 161
13.5 Lab 161
14 Explaining the Linux filesystem hierarchy 162
14.1 /home 162
14.2 / (root) 166
14.3 /usr, /bin, and /sbin 167
14.4 /etc 167
14.5 /tmp 169
14.6 Wrapping up 169
14.7 Lab 170
15 Windows programs in Linux 171
15.1 Virtualization 172
15.2 Wine: using Windows without full-blown virtual machines 175
Winetricks 177
15.3 Wrapping up 179
15.4 Lab 179
16 Establishing a workflow 180
16.1 File/application launchers 181
GNOME Do 181 ■ Kupfer 185