Tag Archives: terminal

nautilus-open-terminal : terminal quick launch

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Tonite it’s getting late but I wanted to post something that is useful for quickly getting to the shell from any GUI location. The package nautilus-open-terminal does just what you might guess it does. It allows you to launch a gnome-terminal from a right-click within nautilus.

You might remember I blogged about something similar long-long ago with nautilus scripts.  This is based on the same idea, but now wrapped in a nice shiny deb package.  From the package description:

Nautilus plugin for opening terminals in arbitrary local paths nautilus-open-terminal is a proof-of-concept Nautilus extension which allows you to open a terminal in arbitrary local folders.

To install this quick-launch to the terminal simply run:

sudo aptitude install nautilus-open-terminal

You may need to restart gnome / nautilus for the change to take effect, but afterwards you’ll have a “open terminal” button on your right-click menu anywhere within nautilus or gnome-desktop area.  Enjoy.

Command-Line Multitasking with Screen

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Screen.  What can I say about it?  It’s not very well known to many people I mention it to but its one of those programs that you just can’t stop using once you’ve started.  Yes, I use screen on a regular daily basis and it’s really easy to use.

I know someone who says the only reason they invented X was so that you could use more virtual terminals.  I think the real solution behind great command line multitasking is screen!

Here are some basic usage tips.  To start a command line based program within a virtual ‘screen’ prefix that command with screen, such as:

screen irssi

Once that has loaded you can detach the virtual screen for later use by pressing ctrl-a d.  To reattach that screen type screen -r (or, if the screen was somehow not completely detached previously you would use screen -dr).

Now, ok, I can start applications within screen and detach them.. that’s cool I guess but couldn’t I just background the process or something similar?  I suppose so, but here is where it gets interesting.

Create a new screen instance within screen with ctrl-a c.  Do this as many times as you might need, based on the number of apps you’re using.  To later switch between these screens use ctrl-a 0-9, ctrl-a n,p (for next or previous) or to see a visual list, use ctrl-a “.

To close a screen you no longer need you can simply type exit which will take you to the next screen or exit screen completely if it is the last one.

In my setup I’m running irssi, mutt, bash and snownews within screen 0-3 over ssh to a private server at home.  On my local machine I load screen for rtorrent and an irssi notification script.  Once I get them both going I ctrl-a d, close gnome-terminal and don’t bother with those apps until I need something. At that point I screen -r and there they are again, right back where I left them.. and having continued that whole time.  Like I said, easy multitasking on the command line.

Do you have any magic screen tips to share with the crowd?  You know where the comments go.

Basics for the command line – for newbies : Ubuntu (5.10 / 6.06.1 / 6.10)

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I’ve had tutorials coming out my ears lately and I realize that many of them are written for use on the command line. For many of you the command line may be intimidating, especially if you’re more accustomed to the Windows standard GUI. I want to tell you the command line can be a VERY powerful tool if you just learn a few basic things. Please don’t consider the command line a crutch or “Linux is hard because you have to type commands”. You can do everything via a GUI that you can do via the command line, it is simply easier or quicker to do it the latter way.

Below are a few basic command for those of you new to the command line:

ls - list contents of a directory
sudo - "super-user do" (grants administrator rights)
cd - change directory
aptitude - APT package management system (update, install, remove, search)
clear - clear screen
chmod - change file access permissions
chown - change file and group ownership
cp - copy
mv - move
rm - remove
cat - concatenate files (dump to screen)
nano - basic text editor
vi - advanced text editor
fdisk - partition table manipulator
df - disk free (remaining / used disk space)
users - users currently logged in
useradd - add a user
usermod - modify existing user
uname - show system data (try uname -a)
mount - mount a file system, cd or removable drive
umount - un-mount a file system, cd or removable drive
top - show current running processes
touch - create new, empty, file
reboot - reboot your system
shutdown - shutdown your system
passwd - change user password
ping - ping a network device or location (ping google.com)
more - show output one screen at a time
exit - logout of the terminal
eject - eject a cdrom or removable device

There are many, many more commands that you can take advantage of. This is just a short list of some of the more commonly used commands. If anyone has suggestions on adding to this list I would appreciate feedback.

Also, if you’re unsure the proper usage of one of these commands simply use the “man” (manual) pages to read more about it. Use the command: man [command] to find out the details on usage and syntax. I hope this helps!