Appendix C Command line
=======================

The command line is text interface to your computer and an alternative to graphical user interfaces like windows. It typically involves typing text commands into a terminal to perform some operation. Although not necessary to learn, it can be helpful. The terminal (Ctrl + Alt + T) is a command line running in a window. 

An exhaustive tutorial on the command line is a bit beyond the scope of the manual. The man command  brings up the user manual and can be used to learn more about a commands use, its options and inputs. If you wanted to learn more about the df (disk free) command, enter the following into a command line: 

.. code::
   
   man df

This will show you the user manual for the df command containing and explanation of the command and other useful information. For example is the -h option gives a human readable output.

.. code::
  
   df -h 

will make a much nicer output than 

.. code:: 
   
   df 

To list files on the current file system one of the most important commands to know is ls. 

.. code:: 

   ls 

will show the files in your current directory and the man page lists more options such as viewing all files or long listing. 

 
