Command-Line & Scripting (Linux Shell)

Below we list recommendations for texts on the Unix/Linux command-line (shell) and shell-scripting:

• A good starting point for using a GNU/Linux-system in general is the Debian Reference.
• Documentations collected in The Linux Documentation Project, in particular the
  Bash Guide for Beginners.
• Introduction to The Unix Shell by the Software Carpentry.
• The Linux Command Line by William Shotts.
• The Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide by Mendel Cooper.

The standard shell on GNU/Linux systems is GNU Bash (bash). Other shells (e.g. csh, tcsh, ksh, zsh) can also be used. However, the C Shell (csh) is not recommanded for scripting, see Csh Programming Considered Harmful. The shell is useful for scripts that process a sequence of commands. For processing data other scipting languages are more suitable (e.g. Perl, Python, Ruby).

GNU/Linux can be tried on computers that do not already run it without changing that computer by starting a live distribution. A classic live distribution is Knoppix by Klaus Knopper.

Under Microsoft Windows Cygwin installs a Linux-like environment including ssh client. For accessing a remote Linux computer the classic PuTTY or MobaXterm can be used. The latter includes forwarding graphical (X11) applications.

Mac OS X provides a Unix environment including ssh client in the terminal application.