help understand a couple commands and a service

kitek · 04-19-2012, 12:52 AM

I have been using linux for a while But I see some commands from tutorials on how to do some things and I do not know what exactly a command is used for when in fact it can be done with other ways. I usally use root or super user to do things. I know what wget does but what about cat, sudo, proc, and apt-get. What are they for. Also why would I want to setup a proxy? Isn't that really just for trying to hide your real ip? It seems there are other uses.

TommyC7 · 04-19-2012, 12:59 AM

Almost all of those Linux commands have a man page you can look at for more help like this:

Code:

man cat
man sudo
man proc
man apt-get

They all have different purposes and usually a summary of the program's function is in the man page. For example, here's the brief outline for cat from its man page:

Quote:

cat - concatenate files and print on the standard output

As for proxies, yes that is one common function of a proxy but it can do a lot more. You probably don't need it.

chrism01 · 04-19-2012, 01:05 AM

Here's a nice searchable HTML version of man which also searches other places http://linux.die.net/man/; a little easier to read/follow x-refs

pan64 · 04-19-2012, 01:06 AM

I suggest you to use normal user account instead of root or superuser and start to play with them. Use root only when you really need it!
there are a lot of other commands to work with, like grep ...

kitek · 04-19-2012, 01:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pan64

I suggest you to use normal user account instead of root or superuser and start to play with them. Use root only when you really need it!
there are a lot of other commands to work with, like grep ...

yes that is another one I run across a lot so I just looked at this man. This is a first for man for me too. So it breaks down it all and explains what it is for. I have seen like apt-get used with grep at the same command. Does the | symbol just mean its like enter a command on another prompt but in fact you can do it on the same line?

pan64 · 04-19-2012, 01:42 AM

| is pronounced as pipe, and you can "connect" commands:
commanda | commandb means the output of commanda is piped into commandb.
An example:
ls -l /etc will list the content of the folder /etc
grep "passwd" will search for the text passwd
and now see the result of:
ls -l /etc | grep passwd

Satyaveer Arya · 04-19-2012, 03:45 AM

Quote:

I know what wget does but what about cat, sudo, proc, and apt-get. What are they for.

Every command have its own functionality. You need to go through the man pages and documents of these commands and all.

Quote:

Also why would I want to setup a proxy? Isn't that really just for trying to hide your real ip?

Did you go through the documents of proxy server, search on google?

kitek · 04-19-2012, 10:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Satyaveer Arya

Every command have its own functionality. You need to go through the man pages and documents of these commands and all.

Did you go through the documents of proxy server, search on google?

hey thanks a bunch all. These man pages is what I have needed. I have not been aware of them and I have used linux for quite some time.

Satyaveer Arya · 04-19-2012, 10:36 AM

Whatever command you use, my suggestion is to go through the man pages of those commands. And also google is there to search with lots of links with lots of help.

David the H. · 04-19-2012, 12:37 PM

When you're ready to get into it into more detail, these links should help you.

http://www.linuxcommand.org/index.php
http://mywiki.wooledge.org/BashGuide
http://ss64.com/bash/