Linux Cookbook: Tips and Techniques for Everyday Use

Table of Contents......Page 2
The Linux Cookbook: Tips and Techniques for Everyday Use......Page 17
 Preface......Page 19
 1.0 Format of Recipes......Page 20
 1.1 Assumptions, Scope, and Exclusions......Page 21
 1.2 Typographical Conventions......Page 22
 1.3 Versions, Latest Edition, and Errata......Page 23
 1.4 Acknowledgments......Page 24
 PART ONE: Working with Linux......Page 26
 2.1.1 What's Unix?......Page 27
 2.1.2 What's Free Software?......Page 28
 2.1.3 What's Open Source?......Page 29
 2.1.5 What's Debian?......Page 30
 2.1.6 Unix and the Tools Philosophy......Page 31
 2.2 What to Try First......Page 33
 2.3 If You Need More Help......Page 34
 3.1 Controlling Power to the System......Page 36
 3.2 Accounts and Privileges......Page 37
 3.2.1 Logging In to the System......Page 38
 3.3 Console Basics......Page 40
 3.3.1 Switching between Consoles......Page 41
 3.3.3 Keys for Console Manipulation......Page 42
 3.4 Running a Command......Page 43
 3.5 Changing Your Password......Page 44
 3.6.1 Listing Your Username......Page 45
 3.6.3 Listing Who Is on and What They're Doing......Page 46
 3.6.4 Listing the Last Times a User Logged In......Page 47
 3.7.1 Listing Your Current Processes......Page 48
 3.7.3 Listing All Processes on the System......Page 49
 3.8 Help Facilities......Page 50
 3.8.1 Finding the Right Tool for the Job......Page 51
 3.8.3 Listing the Usage of a Tool......Page 52
 3.8.4 Reading a Page from the System Manual......Page 53
 3.8.5 Using the GNU Info System......Page 54
 3.8.6 Reading System Documentation and Help Files......Page 56
 4.1 Keys for Command Line Editing......Page 58
 4.1.1 Passing Special Characters to Commands......Page 60
 4.1.2 Letting the Shell Complete What You Type......Page 61
 4.1.3 Repeating the Last Command You Typed......Page 62
 4.2 Redirecting Input and Output......Page 63
 4.2.2 Redirecting Output to a File......Page 64
 4.2.4 Redirecting Output to Another Command's Input......Page 65
 4.3.1 Suspending a Job......Page 66
 4.3.2 Putting a Job in the Background......Page 67
 4.3.4 Listing Your Jobs......Page 68
 4.4 Command History......Page 69
 4.4.1 Viewing Your Command History......Page 70
 4.5 Recording a Shell Session......Page 71
 4.6 Customizing Your Shell......Page 72
 4.6.1 Changing the Shell Prompt......Page 73
 4.6.2 Making a Command Alias......Page 74
 4.6.4 Customizing Future Shells......Page 75
 5.1 Running X......Page 78
 5.1.2 Stopping X......Page 81
 5.2 Running a Program in X......Page 82
 5.2.1 Specifying Window Size and Location......Page 83
 5.2.3 Specifying Window Font......Page 85
 5.3 Manipulating X Client Windows......Page 86
 5.3.3 Destroying a Window......Page 87
 5.4 Moving around the Desktop......Page 88
 5.5 Running a Shell in X......Page 89
 5.6.1 Switching between Video Modes......Page 90
 5.6.3 Changing the Root Window Parameters......Page 91
 5.6.4 Choosing a Window Manager......Page 92
 PART TWO: Files......Page 94
 6. Files and Directories......Page 95
 6.1 Naming Files and Directories......Page 99
 6.1.2 Making a Directory......Page 100
 6.2 Changing Directories......Page 101
 6.2.3 Getting the Name of the Current Directory......Page 102
 6.3 Listing Directories......Page 103
 6.3.1 Listing File Attributes......Page 104
 6.3.2 Listing Directories Recursively......Page 105
 6.3.4 Listing Hidden Files......Page 106
 6.3.6 Listing Directory Tree Graphs......Page 107
 6.3.7 Additional Directory Listing Options......Page 108
 6.4 Copying Files and Directories......Page 109
 6.5 Moving Files and Directories......Page 110
 6.5.1 Changing File Names to Lowercase......Page 111
 6.5.2 Renaming Multiple Files with the Same Extension......Page 112
 6.6 Removing Files and Directories......Page 113
 6.6.1 Removing a File with a Strange Name......Page 114
 6.7 Giving a File More than One Name......Page 115
 6.8 Specifying File Names with Patterns......Page 116
 6.9 Browsing Files......Page 118
 7.1.1 Listing the Groups a User Belongs To......Page 119
 7.1.2 Listing the Members of a Group......Page 120
 7.2.2 Changing the Ownership of a File......Page 121
 7.3 Controlling Access to Files......Page 122
 7.3.1 Listing the Permissions of a File......Page 123
 7.3.3 Write-Protecting a File......Page 124
 7.3.5 Making a File Public......Page 125
 7.3.6 Making a File Executable......Page 126
 8.1 Finding All Files That Match a Pattern......Page 127
 8.2.1 Finding Files in a Directory Tree by Name......Page 128
 8.2.2 Finding Files in a Directory Tree by Size......Page 130
 8.2.3 Finding Files in a Directory Tree by Modification Time......Page 131
 8.2.4 Finding Files in a Directory Tree by Owner......Page 132
 8.2.6 Finding Files by Multiple Criteria......Page 133
 8.3.1 Finding the Largest Files in a Directory......Page 136
 8.3.4 Finding the Largest Directories......Page 137
 8.3.5 Finding the Number of Files in a Listing......Page 138
 8.4 Finding Where a Command Is Located......Page 139
 9.1 Determining File Type and Format......Page 140
 9.2 Changing File Modification Time......Page 141
 9.3 Splitting a File into Smaller Ones......Page 142
 9.4.2 Finding the Differences between Files......Page 143
 9.4.3 Patching a File with a Difference Report......Page 144
 9.5.2 Decompressing a File......Page 145
 9.6 File Archives......Page 146
 9.6.2 Listing the Contents of an Archive......Page 147
 9.6.3 Extracting Files from an Archive......Page 148
 9.7.1 Checking In a File Revision......Page 149
 9.7.2 Checking Out a File Revision......Page 151
 9.7.3 Viewing a File's Revision Log......Page 152
 PART THREE: Text......Page 153
 10.1 Perusing Text......Page 154
 10.1.2 Perusing Multiple Text Files......Page 155
 10.1.3 Commands Available While Perusing Text......Page 156
 10.2.1 Showing Non-printing Characters......Page 157
 10.2.2 Outputting a Beginning Part of a Text......Page 158
 10.2.4 Outputting a Middle Part of a Text......Page 159
 10.2.5 Outputting the Text between Strings......Page 160
 10.2.6 Outputting Text in a Dialect......Page 161
 10.3 Streaming Text......Page 162
 10.4 Viewing a Character Chart......Page 164
 11.1 Choosing the Perfect Text Editor......Page 165
 11.2.1 Getting Acquainted with Emacs......Page 167
 11.2.2 Basic Emacs Editing Keys......Page 171
 11.2.3 Making Abbreviations in Emacs......Page 172
 11.2.4 Recording and Running Macros in Emacs......Page 173
 11.2.5 Inserting Special Characters in Emacs......Page 174
 11.3 Running a Vi Tutorial......Page 176
 11.4.1 Cutting Text......Page 177
 11.5 Editing Streams of Text......Page 178
 11.6 Concatenating Text......Page 179
 11.6.1 Writing Text to Files......Page 180
 11.6.3 Inserting Text at the Beginning of a File......Page 181
 11.7 Including Text Files......Page 182
 12.1 Spelling......Page 185
 12.1.2 Listing the Misspellings in a Text......Page 186
 12.1.3 Keeping a Spelling Word List......Page 187
 12.1.4 Interactive Spell Checking......Page 188
 12.1.5 Spell Checking in Emacs......Page 189
 12.2 Dictionaries......Page 191
 12.2.1 Listing Words that Match a Pattern......Page 192
 12.2.2 Listing the Definitions of a Word......Page 193
 12.2.4 Listing the Antonyms of a Word......Page 194
 12.3 Checking Grammar......Page 195
 12.3.1 Checking Text for Misused Phrases......Page 196
 12.3.2 Checking Text for Doubled Words......Page 197
 12.3.3 Checking Text for Readability......Page 198
 12.4 Word Lists and Reference Files......Page 199
 13.1 Counting Text......Page 202
 13.1.2 Counting the Words in a Text......Page 203
 13.1.5 Counting Lines per Page in Emacs......Page 204
 13.3 Text Relevance......Page 205
 13.3.1 Sorting Text in Order of Relevance......Page 206
 13.3.2 Listing Relevant Files in Emacs......Page 207
 13.4 Finding Anagrams in Text......Page 208
 13.6 Text Cut-Ups......Page 209
 13.6.2 Making Random Word Cut-Ups......Page 210
 13.6.3 Making Cut-Ups in Emacs......Page 211
 14.1 Spacing Text......Page 212
 14.1.2 Single-Spacing Text......Page 213
 14.1.3 Double-Spacing Text......Page 214
 14.1.5 Adding Line Breaks to Text......Page 215
 14.1.6 Adding Margins to Text......Page 216
 14.1.7 Swapping Tab and Space Characters......Page 217
 14.2 Paginating Text......Page 218
 14.2.3 Options Available When Paginating Text......Page 219
 14.3 Underlining Text......Page 220
 14.4 Sorting Text......Page 221
 14.5 Numbering Lines of Text......Page 223
 14.6 Reversing Text......Page 224
 15.1 Searching for a Word or Phrase......Page 226
 15.2 Regular Expressions--Matching Text Patterns......Page 228
 15.2.2 Matching Lines Ending with Certain Text......Page 230
 15.2.4 Matching Lines That Contain Any of Some Regexps......Page 231
 15.2.7 Matching Lines That Only Contain Certain Characters......Page 232
 15.2.9 Finding Patterns in Certain Contexts......Page 233
 15.2.11 Regexps for Common Situations......Page 234
 15.3.1 Matching Lines in Compressed Files......Page 235
 15.4 Outputting the Context of a Search......Page 236
 15.5 Searching and Replacing Text......Page 237
 15.6.1 Searching Incrementally in Emacs......Page 238
 15.6.3 Searching for a Regexp in Emacs......Page 239
 15.7 Searching Text in Less......Page 240
 16. Typesetting and Word Processing......Page 242
 16.1 Choosing the Right Typesetting System for the Job......Page 243
 16.2 Converting Plain Text for Output......Page 244
 16.2.1 Outputting Text in a Font......Page 245
 16.2.2 Outputting Text as a Poster or Sign......Page 246
 16.2.3 Outputting Text with Language Highlighting......Page 247
 16.2.4 Outputting Text with Fancy Headers......Page 249
 16.2.7 Selecting the Pages of Text to Output......Page 250
 16.2.8 Additional PostScript Output Options......Page 251
 16.3 LyX Document Processing......Page 252
 16.3.2 Writing Documents with LyX......Page 253
 16.3.3 Learning More about LyX......Page 254
 16.4 Typesetting with TeX and Friends......Page 256
 16.4.2 Processing TeX Files......Page 257
 16.4.3 Processing LaTeX Files......Page 258
 16.4.4 Writing Documents with TeX and LaTeX......Page 259
 16.4.5 TeX and LaTeX Document Templates......Page 260
 16.5 Writing Documents with SGMLtools......Page 261
 16.5.1 Elements of an SGML Document......Page 262
 16.5.3 Generating Output from SGML......Page 263
 16.6 Other Word Processors and Typesetting Systems......Page 264
 17.1 X Fonts......Page 266
 17.1.1 Selecting an X Font Name......Page 267
 17.1.2 Listing Available X Fonts......Page 268
 17.2 Console Fonts......Page 269
 17.2.2 Displaying the Characters in a Console Font......Page 270
 17.3.1 Horizontal Text Fonts......Page 271
 17.3.2 Making a Text Banner......Page 272
 17.4 Other Font Tools......Page 273
 PART FOUR: Images......Page 274
 18.1.1 Previewing a DVI File......Page 275
 18.1.2 Previewing a PostScript File......Page 276
 18.2 Viewing an Image in X......Page 277
 18.2.2 Putting an Image in the Root Window......Page 280
 18.3 Browsing Images in a Console......Page 281
 18.5 Browsing PhotoCD Archives......Page 282
 18.6 Additional Image Viewers......Page 283
 19.1 Transforming Images......Page 284
 19.1.1 Changing the Size of an Image......Page 285
 19.1.3 Adjusting the Colors of an Image......Page 288
 19.1.4 Annotating an Image......Page 290
 19.1.5 Adding Borders to an Image......Page 291
 19.1.7 Combining Images......Page 292
 19.1.8 Morphing Two Images Together......Page 293
 19.2 Converting Images between Formats......Page 294
 19.3 Editing Images with the GIMP......Page 296
 19.4 Interactive Image Editors and Tools......Page 297
 20.1.1 Taking a Screen Shot in X......Page 299
 20.1.2 Taking a Screen Shot in a Console......Page 300
 20.2.1 Listing Available Scanner Devices......Page 301
 20.2.3 Scanning an Image......Page 302
 20.3 Extracting PhotoCD Images......Page 303
 20.3.2 Removing PhotoCD Haze......Page 304
 21. PostScript......Page 306
 21.1.2 Extracting Pages from a PostScript File......Page 307
 21.1.3 Combining PostScript Pages......Page 309
 21.2 Manipulating PostScript Documents......Page 310
 21.2.2 Combining PostScript Documents......Page 311
 21.2.3 Arranging a PostScript Document in a Booklet......Page 312
 21.3.2 Converting PostScript to Plain Text......Page 313
 PART FIVE: Sound......Page 315
 22.1 Sound File Formats......Page 316
 22.2.1 Listing the Current Audio Settings......Page 317
 22.2.2 Changing the Volume Level......Page 318
 22.2.4 Selecting an Audio Recording Source......Page 319
 22.3 Playing a Sound File......Page 320
 22.3.2 Playing a MIDI File......Page 321
 22.4 Recording a Sound File......Page 322
 22.5 Other Sound File Tools......Page 323
 23.1 Controlling CD Audio......Page 325
 23.1.2 Pausing an Audio CD......Page 326
 23.1.4 Shuffling Audio CD Tracks......Page 327
 23.1.5 Displaying Information about an Audio CD......Page 328
 23.2 Sampling Sound from a CD......Page 329
 23.3 Writing an Audio CD-R......Page 330
 23.4 Other Audio CD Applications......Page 332
 24.1 Working with Selections from Sound Files......Page 333
 24.1.2 Pasting a Selection of Sound......Page 334
 24.2 Sound Effects......Page 335
 24.2.1 Changing the Amplitude of a Sound File......Page 336
 24.2.4 Adding Echo to a Sound File......Page 337
 24.2.6 Adding Phase to a Sound File......Page 338
 24.2.8 Adding Vibro-Champ Effects to a Sound File......Page 339
 24.3 Converting Sound Files......Page 340
 24.3.1 Making an MP3 File......Page 341
 24.4 Other Tools for Sound Editing......Page 342
 PART SIX: Productivity......Page 344
 25.1 Listing a Disk's Free Space......Page 345
 25.2 Listing a File's Disk Usage......Page 346
 25.3 Floppy Disks......Page 347
 25.3.2 Mounting a Floppy Disk......Page 348
 25.4 CD-ROMs......Page 349
 25.4.1 Mounting a CD-ROM......Page 350
 25.4.2 Unmounting a CD-ROM......Page 351
 26. Printing......Page 352
 26.1.1 Sending a Print Job to the Printer......Page 353
 26.1.3 Listing Your Print Jobs......Page 354
 26.1.4 Cancelling a Print Job......Page 355
 26.2.1 Printing in Emacs......Page 356
 26.2.2 Printing with Dvips......Page 357
 26.3 Preparing Files for Printing......Page 358
 26.3.1 Preparing a PostScript File for Printing......Page 359
 26.3.2 Preparing a DVI File for Printing......Page 360
 26.3.3 Preparing a PDF File for Printing......Page 361
 26.3.4 Preparing a Man Page for Printing......Page 362
 27.1 Using DOS and Windows Disks......Page 363
 27.1.2 Copying Files to and from a DOS Disk......Page 364
 27.2 Using Macintosh Disks......Page 365
 27.2.2 Listing the Contents of a Macintosh Disk......Page 366
 27.2.4 Deleting Files on a Macintosh Disk......Page 367
 27.2.5 Formatting a Macintosh Disk......Page 368
 27.3 Converting Text Files between DOS and Linux......Page 369
 27.4.1 Converting Word to LaTeX......Page 370
 27.4.2 Converting Word to Plain Text......Page 371
 28.1 Displaying the Date and Time......Page 372
 28.2 Playing an Audible Time Announcement......Page 373
 28.3.1 Displaying a Calendar......Page 374
 28.4 Managing Appointments......Page 376
 28.4.1 Making an Appointment File......Page 377
 28.4.2 Including Holidays in Your Reminders......Page 378
 28.4.3 Automatic Appointment Delivery......Page 379
 28.5.1 Keeping a Free-Form Address List......Page 380
 28.5.2 Keeping a Contact Manager Database......Page 382
 28.6.1 Sending Yourself Email Reminders......Page 383
 28.6.3 Running a Command on a Delay......Page 384
 29.1.1 Making a Quick Arithmetic Calculation......Page 386
 29.1.2 Making Many Arithmetic Calculations......Page 387
 29.3 Listing a Sequence of Numbers......Page 389
 29.4 Finding Prime Factors......Page 390
 29.5.1 Converting an Amount between Units of Measurement......Page 391
 29.6 Other Math Tools......Page 392
 PART SEVEN: Networking......Page 394
 30.1 Connecting to the Internet......Page 395
 30.1.1 Setting Up PPP......Page 396
 30.1.2 Controlling a PPP Connection......Page 397
 30.2 Faxing......Page 398
 30.2.1 Sending a Fax......Page 399
 30.2.3 Receiving Faxes Automatically......Page 400
 30.2.4 Converting to and from Fax Format......Page 401
 30.3 Calling Out on a Modem......Page 402
 31.1 Sending Mail......Page 404
 31.1.1 Mailing a User on the Same System......Page 405
 31.1.3 Mailing the Contents of a URL......Page 406
 31.1.4 Special Mail Composition Keystrokes......Page 407
 31.2 Receiving Mail......Page 408
 31.2.1 Deleting Mail......Page 409
 31.3 Managing Mail......Page 410
 31.3.2 Setting Notification for New Mail......Page 411
 31.3.4 Seeing Who Your Mail Is From......Page 413
 31.4 Mail Attachments......Page 414
 31.4.2 Sending a Mail Attachment......Page 415
 31.5 Making an Email Signature......Page 416
 31.6 Picking the Right Mail Application......Page 417
 32.1 Browsing the Web......Page 419
 32.1.1 Maintaining a List of Visited Web Sites......Page 421
 32.1.3 Mozilla Browsing Tips......Page 422
 32.3 Reading Text from the Web......Page 423
 32.3.1 Perusing Text from the Web......Page 425
 32.3.3 Options Available while Browsing Text......Page 426
 32.4 Browsing the Web in Emacs......Page 427
 32.5 Getting Files from the Web......Page 429
 32.5.2 Archiving an Entire Web Site......Page 430
 32.5.3 Archiving Part of a Web Site......Page 431
 32.6 Writing HTML......Page 432
 32.6.1 Adding Parameters to Image Tags......Page 433
 32.6.2 Converting HTML to Another Format......Page 434
 32.7 More Web Browsers and Tools......Page 435
 33.1 Connecting to Another System......Page 437
 33.1.2 Connecting to Another System with Encryption......Page 439
 33.2 Transferring Files with Another System......Page 440
 33.2.1 Uploading a File......Page 441
 33.2.2 Downloading a File......Page 442
 33.3 Reading Usenet......Page 443
 33.3.1 Choosing a Newsreader......Page 444
 33.4 Listing Online System and User Activity......Page 445
 33.4.2 Checking Whether a User Is Online......Page 446
 33.4.3 Listing Who Is Logged In to a System......Page 447
 33.4.5 Finding the Host Name of an IP Address......Page 448
 33.5 Sending a Message to Another User's Terminal......Page 449
 33.6.1 Chatting Directly with a User......Page 451
 33.6.2 Chatting with Users on IRC......Page 453
 33.6.3 Chatting with Users on ICQ......Page 454
 A.1 Linux and Hardware Compatibility......Page 455
 A.2 Shutting Down the System......Page 456
 A.2.2 Shutting Down at a Certain Time......Page 457
 A.2.3 Cancelling a Shutdown......Page 458
 A.3.2 Installing a Debian Package......Page 459
 A.3.3 Upgrading a Debian Package......Page 460
 A.3.4 Installing a Shell Script......Page 461
 A.4 Administrating Users......Page 462
 A.4.3 Letting Users Mount Drives......Page 463
 A.5.1 How Long Has the System Been Up?......Page 464
 A.5.2 What Version of Linux Am I Running?......Page 465
 A.5.3 What Version of Debian Am I Running?......Page 466
 B. Linux Resources on the Web......Page 467
 C.1 Design Science License......Page 469
 C.2 Applying Copyleft to Your Work......Page 472
(1)......Page 474
(2)......Page 494
(11)......Page 521
(21)......Page 522
(30)......Page 523
(39)......Page 524
Footnotes......Page 525
Table of Contents......Page 526
Short Table of Contents......Page 543
About this document......Page 544