Here's how to refer to particular directories (or files)
thing is in the current directory.
dir/thing: thing is in the directory dir, which is in the current directory.
dir/otherdir/thing: thing is in otherdir, which is in dir, which is in the current directory
~/thing: thing is in your directory, that is, the directory you're in when you first log in.
/somedir/otherdir/thing: thing is in otherdir, which is in somedir, which is in the root directory of the entire machine. In Windows, this would look like "C:\somedir\otherdir\thing," but Unix doesn't use "C:."
.. is the parent directory, as in: ../thing
| mkdir dirname | Make a directory (folder) named dirname, in current directory |
| cd dirname | Go to the directory, in current directory |
| pwd | Print working directory (current directory) |
| ls | List files in current directory |
| ls -la | List files, with all the gory details |
| mv file newname | Move (rename) file to "newname" |
| mv file dir | Move file to the directory dir |
| cp file newname | Copy file to "newname" |
| cp file dir | Copy file to the directory dir |
| cat file | Catalog (print contents of) file |
| cat > file | Create file by typing, or pasting. End with Ctrl-D |
| chmod permissions thing | Change permissions on a file or directory "thing." 700 means I can do anything and nobody else can do anything: chmod 700 myDir |
| rm file | Remove file |
| rmdir dir | Remove directory. It must be empty. |
| exit | exit |
| Bigger programs you'll want to know about | |
| emacs & | Editor |
| firefox & | Browser |
| xterm & | New command-prompt window |
Up arrow repeats your last command
!a repeats the last command starting with a (for example). !! repeats the last command
If you have a file with a weird symbol in its name, or a space -- well, don't, it's a bad idea, but if you do -- put quotes around it: rm "stupid file.txt"