Chapter 1: Basics of Shell and Text Terminal

An ancient Chinese proverb states that A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. This chapter is going to be that single, first step on our journey to mastering the Linux command-line interface (CLI) and shell scripting. Specifically, we're going to learn how to use Terminal, the shell, some basic commands, and one very handy utility to work on many things at once, called screen.

As you progress further through the book, you'll notice that we will be using these concepts a lot, as they're the basis for what we're going to do in the later chapters. When dealing with systems administration, we can usually do a lot more in some kind of CLI than in any kind of graphical user interface (GUI). This stems from the idea of the programmability of a CLI versus the static nature of most GUIs in IT. Furthermore, a utility such as screen will make our life in the CLI a lot easier, as we're going to be able...