Eight must-know Linux commands that will turn any Linux novice into an apparent command line guru. Go on. Impress your friends and family.

The Linux command-line can appear pretty complicated and occasionally even a little alarming. But it also offers a whole stack of helpful documentation which you can access directly from the command-line. Read on to learn how to help yourself when – or even before – you get stuck.

Today’s “Newbie Tip” is learning some basics about the “Command Line Interface” or as it’s mostly referred to, “Command Line”. The command line gives the user the ability to interact with the operating system by typing via a text terminal.

Hollywood movies often have a tech geek entering commands and doing amazing things. While it may not be that easy to hack into public transport systems or or control the world like Eagle Eye, the command line is certainly a geeks playground.

For tasks like controlling and monitoring the distro's underlying system, the command line remains indispensable. Here are some commands that will elevate you from a total newbie to an informed command line user.

In addition to creating programming structures, you can also use the semi-colon to separate stand-alone commands that you want to execute from the same command entry. If you wanted to cd to a certain directory and then look at its contents, you could enter each command on its own line. Or, you could enter them both on the same line. This process is called command chaining.

I am personally a strong advocate of using the Command Line. However, I am coming from a more tech type of situation than some others do. For the 'average" user however, is the Command Line relevant to everyday use?

I started learning computers back when DOS was all that was available to me, so I was comfortable with the command line. When Windows 95 was released my command line usage dropped considerably because there simply wasn't the "need" for it that there once was. I've gone from using the command line all the time to using it very seldom because GUI's were getting better and becoming more wide spread.

Getting comfortable with GNU and UNIX commands. GUIs are fine, but to unlock the real power of Linux®, there's no substitute for the command line. In this article, Ian Shields introduces you to some of the major features of the bash shell, with an emphasis on the features that are important for LPI certification.