When you learn about a new operating system, you also need to learn
new terminology. Here are a few basic terms you should learn. You will see these terms
often:
Shell prompt: A software interface (similar to
a DOS screen) between the user and the operating system. The shell
interprets commands entered by the user and passes them on to the
operating system. The shell prompt displays the command line.
Command line: The place in the shell prompt
where commands are typed.
Command: An instruction given to the computer,
most often with the keyboard or mouse.
Graphical User Interface (GUI): A screen with
icons, menus, and panels for the user to click on to initiate
functions.
GNOME and KDE: Two popular GUIs included with
Red Hat Linux.
Panel: A GUI environment toolbar, usually
located across the bottom of the screen. The panel contains the main menu
button, among other things, and can be customized by the user.
Root: The root user account is created during
installation and has complete access to your system. You must be
logged in as root to accomplish certain system administration
tasks. User accounts are created so typical user tasks can be done
without using the root account, to reduce the chance of damaging
your OS.
su and su -: The
command su gives you access to the root account
or other accounts on your system. When you su to
root, or switch to your root account while still inside your user
account shell, you have access to important system files that you
can change, or damage, permanently. Logging in with the su
- command makes you root within the root account shell.
If you log in as root with su -, you have access
to certain commands that the su command does not
grant. Use caution when you are logged in as root.
Man page and info
page: Man (short for manual) and info pages give
detailed information about a command or file (man pages tend to be
brief and provide less explanation than info pages). To read the man
page for the su command, for example, type
man su at a shell prompt (or type info
su for the info page). To close one of these pages, press
[q].
X or X Window System:
These terms refer to the graphical user interface environments. If
you are "in X" or "running X" you are working in a GUI rather than a
console environment.
Console: Console, shell prompt, terminal,
"the screen that looks like DOS" — these are all the same
thing: a non-graphical interface. This environment has no icons,
limited menus, and requires that you type commands to perform tasks,
rather than pointing and clicking with your mouse.
RPM: An RPM is a software package file you can install on your
computer. All Red Hat Linux files are available as RPMs.
