📚 Linux Commands Reference Guide

A comprehensive, beginner-friendly guide to essential Linux commands. This repository was created to help students in the Operating Systems course at October 6 University, but it's perfect for anyone starting their Linux journey!

🎯 Purpose

Whether you're a computer science student, a developer transitioning to Linux, or someone curious about the command line, this guide provides:

• Clear explanations of essential Linux commands.
• Practical examples you can try immediately.
• Structured learning from basic to more advanced operations.
• Quick reference for daily use.

📖 Table of Contents

• 🚀 Getting Started
• 📋 Prerequisites
• 🎥 Video Tutorials
• 📚 Command Categories
  • ⚡ General Commands
  • 👥 User Management
  • 📁 File & Directory Operations
  • 🔄 Copy & Move Operations
• 💡 Usage Examples
• 🤝 Contributing
• 📄 License
• ⭐ Support

🚀 Getting Started

1. Open your terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T on most Linux distributions).
2. Start with basic commands like pwd, ls, and cd.
3. Practice each command in a safe directory.
4. Use man [command] to learn more about any command.

📋 Prerequisites

• Any Linux distribution (Ubuntu, Debian, CentOS, etc.)
• Basic understanding of what a terminal is.
• No prior command-line experience required!

💡 Tip: If you're new to Linux, consider starting with a user-friendly distribution like Ubuntu.

🎥 Video Tutorials

I've created comprehensive video playlists (in Arabic) to supplement this guide:

• 🎬 How to Install Debian
• 🎬 Linux Commands Tutorial

📚 Command Categories

⚡ General Commands

These are the fundamental commands you'll use daily:

Command	Description	Example
date	Display the current date and time	date
cal [month] [year]	Show calendar for specified month and year	cal 12 2024
clear	Clear the terminal screen	clear
history	Show command history	history
history -c	Clear all command history	history -c
whoami	Display current username	whoami
who	Show logged-in users	who
echo [text]	Print text to the terminal	echo "Hello World"
pwd	Show current directory path	pwd
cd [directory]	Change to specified directory	cd /home/user/Documents
cd -	Return to previous directory	cd -
cd ..	Go up one directory level	cd ..
ls [directory]	List files and directories	ls -la
man [command]	Display manual page for a command	man ls
passwd	Change user password	passwd

👥 User Management

Commands for managing users (requires appropriate permissions):

Command	Description	Example
su	Switch to root user	su
exit	Logout from current user	exit
adduser [username]	Add new user to the system	adduser john
deluser --remove-home [user]	Delete user and their home folder	deluser --remove-home john

📁 File & Directory Operations

Essential commands for creating, viewing, and managing files:

Command	Description	Example
cat [file]	Display file contents	cat myfile.txt
cat > [file]	Create new file and add content	cat > newfile.txt
mkdir [directory]	Create new directory	mkdir my_folder
rmdir [directory]	Remove empty directory	rmdir empty_folder
rm [file]	Delete file	rm unwanted_file.txt
rm -r [directory]	Delete directory and contents	rm -r folder_to_delete
rm -r -i [directory]	Delete with confirmation prompts	rm -r -i careful_delete

🔄 Copy & Move Operations

Commands for copying, moving, and renaming files and directories:

General Syntax:

cp [options] [source] [destination]
mv [options] [source] [destination]

Command	Description	Example
cp [file1] [file2]	Copy file1 to file2	cp document.txt backup.txt
cp [file1] [file2] [directory]	Copy multiple files to directory	cp file1.txt file2.txt /backup/
cp -r [directory1] [directory2]	Copy directory and all contents	cp -r project/ project_backup/
mv [file1] [file2]	Move/rename file1 to file2	mv old_name.txt new_name.txt
mv [file1] [file2] [directory]	Move multiple files to directory	mv file1.txt file2.txt /archive/
mv [directory1] [directory2]	Move/rename directory	mv old_folder/ new_folder/
mv -i [source] [destination]	Move with confirmation if destination exists	mv -i important.txt /backup/

💡 Usage Examples

Basic Navigation

# Check where you are
pwd

# List files in current directory
ls

# List files with details
ls -la

# List files with human-readable sizes
ls -lh

# Change to home directory
cd ~

# Go to a specific folder
cd Documents

# Go back to previous directory
cd -

File Operations

# Create a new file
touch newfile.txt

# View file content
cat myfile.txt

# Create a directory
mkdir projects

# Copy a file
cp important.txt important_backup.txt

# Move a file to a directory
mv myfile.txt documents/

Getting Help

# Get help for any command
man ls
man cp
man mv

# Quick help (if available)
ls --help

🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions from the community! Here's how you can help:

1. Fork this repository
2. Create a new branch (git checkout -b feature/new-commands)
3. Add your improvements or new commands
4. Commit your changes (git commit -am 'Add new commands')
5. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/new-commands)
6. Create a Pull Request

What we're looking for:

• Additional useful Linux commands.
• Better examples and explanations.
• Corrections to existing content.
• Improved formatting and organization.

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

⭐ Support

⭐ Star this repository if you find it helpful!

🐛 Report issues if you find any problems.

💡 Suggest improvements through issues or pull requests.

Happy learning and welcome to the world of Linux! 🐧