Fundamentals of
Computing
Introduction to Ubuntu
Outlines
• Overview
• Opening the terminal
• Basic Commands
Let us Learn Ubuntu
Ubuntu Getting Started
Opening the terminal
On Ubuntu you can find a launcher for the terminal by clicking on the
Activities item at the top left of the screen, then typing the first few
letters of “terminal”.
Opening the terminal
You should end up with a window like this:
Interacting with the terminal
1- pwd
pwd (print working directory) command displays the full pathname
of the current working directory.
You should see a directory path printed out (probably something like
/home/YOUR_USERNAME)
2- ls
ls (list) command lists all files and folders in your current working
directory.
If there are three files in the current directory, the output will be like
this
3- mkdir
mkdir (make directory) command allows you to create a new
directory. You can specify where you want the directory created – if
you do not do so, it will be created in your current working directory.
4- cd
cd (change director) command used to change the current working
directory.
Using this command is easy, just type cd followed by the folder
name.
You can use full paths to folders or simply the name of a folder within
the directory you are currently working
5- gedit
Text Editor (gedit)
To create or open (if exists) a specific file
The example below create or open (if exists) a file called ana.c, then
the file is ready to be edited
gedit ana.c
6- cat
It is used to display the content of a file in the Terminal, starting from
the first row and finishing on its last row.
7- cp
cp (copy) command allows you to copy a file. You should specify both
files: the file that you want to be copied and the location that you
want it copied to.
Syntax: cp source_file_name destination_file_name
cp Example
8- rm
rm (remove) command removes the specified file.