general nots

General Notes
General Notes

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Ubuntu allows a user to accomplish tasks from either a menu-driven Graphical User Interface (GUI) or from a text-based command-line interface (CLI). In Ubuntu, the command-line-interface terminal is called Terminal, which is started: Menu -> Applications -> Accessories -> Terminal.

Text inside the grey dotted box like this should be put into the command-line Terminal.

Many changes to the operating system can only be done by a User with Administrative privileges. 'sudo' elevates a User's privileges to the Administrator level temporarily (i.e. when installing programs or making changes to the system). Example:

sudo bash

'gksudo' can be used instead of 'sudo' when opening a Graphical Application through the "Run Command" dialog box or as a menu item. Example:

gksudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

Many file management tasks can be accomplished with root Administrative privileges by starting the Nautilus file manager in a similar fashion. (Use 'gksudo' if starting Nautilus from a menu item.)

gksudo nautilus

or

sudo nautilus

"man" command can be used to find help manual for a command. For example, "man sudo" will display the manual page for the "sudo" command:

man sudo

While "apt-get" and "aptitude" are fast ways of installing programs/packages, you can also use the Synaptic Package Manager, a GUI method for installing programs/packages. Most (but not all) programs/packages available with apt-get install will also be available from the Synaptic Package Manager. In this guide, when you see

sudo apt-get install package