Shortcuts for Working in BASH

lists the most common keyboard shortcuts in BASH (there are many more; see BASH’s man page for details). If you’ve explored the Emacs text editor, you might find these shortcuts familiar. Such keyboard shortcuts are largely the same across many of the software packages that originate from the GNU Project. Often, you’ll find an option within … Read more

What Is the BASH Shell?

The best way of explaining the BASH shell to a Windows user is to compare it to the DOS command prompt. It lets you issue commands directly to the OS via the keyboard without needing to mess around with the mouse and windows (although it is sometimes possible to use the mouse within a BASH … Read more

Installing Windows Applications with Wine

Thousands of free applications. Ease to install. What if this isn’t enough? What if you just need that Windows application to do some special task? As with everything in Ubuntu, there’s a solution for that. The solution is Wine. Wine (a recursive acronym meaning “Wine Is Not an Emulator”) is a software layer capable of … Read more

Managing Software Updates

As important as installing software is keeping it up-to-date, to avoid security breaches and to take full advantage of new functionality as it is added. Ubuntu can automatically take notice of software that has been updated in the repositories or software sources it knows, and lets you choose your course of action. This is configured … Read more

Adding Software Sources

Other sources of software available for Ubuntu are out there that you might need or like to set up. You can access them using the Other Software tab in the Software Sources tool, shown in Figure. Figure . The Other Software tab at the Software Sources tool By default you will see the Canonical partner … Read more