Slackware Command Line Manual
 

I have downloaded the Slackbook and have studied it. Its pretty nice simple and thorough. However I was wondering where I can get a more detailed manual on the Linux Commands.

What is a good book to recommend that will work with Slackware. I have for example Linux Commands and Shell Scripting Bible 2008 ed.(I like it alot) all though it is tailored for other distros. So, would I have better luck in the command line with a FreeBSD Command Line Manual or Linux? I am assuming Linux because it is Linux Kernel based... However I know Slack is BSD oriented as well. Perhaps the commands are interchangable. For example "ps aux".

So is there other books anyone can recommend that is more detailed in the command line and also a good bash scripting book? Thanks!

You are mixing things up. The commands you are using in a distribution have nothing to do with the kernel. You can put a GNU userland on a BSD kernel and a other userlands on a Linux kernel. Slackware is GNU/Linux, so you have to learn the GNU tools.
A good reference is the RUTE guide: http://linux.2038bug.com/rute-home.html
For bash scripting look at : http://tldp.org/LDP/abs/html/

Man pages are your best bet. If the slackbook is too generic for you, you can only benefit from:

Thanks Tobi you always give great answers. PS Master Foo has thought me a lot. The Novice Slackware User was enlightened. :)

the man is good on some commands but some of them are just very confusing

Member Response
 

Hi,

Along with Slackware® Essentials, I like to recommend Slackware® Basics.

Just a few more links to aid you to gaining some understanding;



1 Linux Documentation Project

2 Rute Tutorial & Exposition

3 Linux Command Guide 

4 Bash Beginners Guide

5 Bash Reference Manual

6 Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide

7 Linux Newbie Admin Guide

8 LinuxSelfHelp

9 Utimate Linux Newbie Guide
10 Linux Home Networking
11 Virtualization- Top 10

The above links and others can be found at 'Slackware-Links'. More than just Slackware® links!

HTH!

Also:
http://www.grymoire.com/Unix/

If you need a command to do something specific use 'apropos' to find one. Then use 'man' to find out more.

If you are uncertain about the name of a command, or if you want to know if there is a command with certain characteristics, you can try the "apropos" command. For instance:
will give you a list of all commands which have the word "group" in their man page. One line of that output is:
which shows you the useful but less known command "vigr", essential on a multi user Linux server.

Eric

Edit: H_TeXMeX_H beat me to it

There are four places for Linux references:

1. tldp.org
2. man, info pages and /usr/doc/*
3. The Internet
4. Others :-)

1. Given that the stuff in tldp.org is generally dated and generic, most distributions write their own staff and wikis. Anyway, Slackware is well equipped in this department (see the previous posts).

2. Slackware comes with full documentation by default.

3. You may use search engines to find documentation and this is the official Slackware forum. Then there is the Freenode IRC - ##slackware for quick and dirty help.

4. Then there are organised training and printed books you can buy, forums, workshops, etc.

EXCELLENT! Thank you.

The more you know and can understand Linux and the command line. The more you love Slackware. Everything non/graphical can be done there.

The biggest and only problem I can see with Slack right now is that the package management is not as popular as debs and rpms. So you have to convert them to slackpkg format. But I guess when I master slackpkg and making slackpkg's then that won't be an issue either even though an extra hassle. I actually like slackpkg's simple design and that's what UNIX is all about. Then you have "slackbuilds" for all the needed dependencies (if I am not mistaken).

Man I am so happy to have a distro like Slack. Sure it has a steep learning curve but at least I am learning REAL stuff that I will need to learn when using the Linux OS. Where as in Redhat not only do you need to master the terminal but you have to learn plenty GUI tasks as well. Reading Master Foo's stuff I definitely am not a fan of GUI based administration. For Slack the GUI is only a second option with less features and is used for its purpose.

Also the Stability is great. It feels like a Rock. If I compare it a car I would say Chevy. If you pop the hood everything is right there easy to fix as long as you know what you are doing.

Again, thanks guys. Hope I don't turn into a Slack zealot lol... but it seems unavoidable.

Slackware's package management is really intuitive:
Some examples:

Look for installed packages
cat /var/log/packages/gzip*

Install packages
Slackware: installpkg gzip*.tar.?z

Check which package installs bin/gzip
grep bin/gzip /var/log/packages/*

Check what will be installed from a package:
tar tvf gzip*.tar.?z

and so on ...

Note that slackbuilds.org have a repository of over 3200 applications for you to choose from. That's more than 3 times found on a clean and default Slackware installation. sbopkg (sbopkg.org) is also a useful tool to have. Alien Bob and others also provide a good number of Slackware packages as well.

You want to start from:
It's good read. It will get you busy for the next 3-5 weeks.

I couldn't agree with you more! yes.

The Linux Command Line by William Shotts (No Starch Press) is an excellent reference and very readable. It's also available as a PDF from linuxcommand.org. Lxer.com happens to have a review of the book today.

DNA
AKA mrascii