Files

 ls --- lists your files

ls -l --- lists your files in 'long format', which contains lots of useful information, e.g. the
exact size of the file, who owns the file and who has the right to look at it, and when it
was last modified.
ls -a --- lists all files, including the ones whose filenames begin in a dot, which you do
not always want to see.
There are many more options, for example to list files by size, by date, recursively etc.
 more filename --- shows the first part of a file, just as much as will fit on one screen. Just
hit the space bar to see more or q to quit. You can use /pattern to search for a pattern.
 emacs filename --- is an editor that lets you create and edit a file.
 mv filename1 filename2 --- moves a file (i.e. gives it a different name, or moves it into a
different directory
 ,cp filename1 filename2 --- copies a file
 rm filename --- removes a file. It is wise to use the option rm -i, which will ask you for
confirmation before actually deleting anything. You can make this your default by
making an alias in your .cshrc file.
 **diff filename1 filename2 --- compares files, and shows where they differ
 wc filename --- tells you how many lines, words, and characters there are in a file
 chmod options filename --- lets you change the read, write, and execute permissions on
your files. The default is that only you can look at them and change them, but you may
sometimes want to change these permissions. For example, chmod o+r filename will
make the file readable for everyone, and chmod o-r filename will make it unreadable for
others again. Note that for someone to be able to actually look at the file the directories it
is in need to be at least executable. See help protection for more details.
 File Compression
o gzip filename --- compresses files, so that they take up much less space. Usually
text files compress to about half their original size, but it depends very much on
the size of the file and the nature of the contents. There are other tools for this
purpose, too (e.g. compress), but gzip usually gives the highest compression rate.
Gzip produces files with the ending '.gz' appended to the original filename.
o gunzip filename --- uncompresses files compressed by gzip.
o gzcat filename --- lets you look at a gzipped file without actually having to
gunzip it (same as gunzip -c). You can even print it directly, using gzcat filename
| lpr (zcat in ubuntu )
o printing
o lpr filename --- print. Use the -P option to specify the printer name if you want to
use a printer other than your default printer. For example, if you want to print
double-sided, use 'lpr -Pvalkyr-d', or if you're at CSLI, you may want to use 'lpr
-Pcord115-d'. See 'help printers' for more information about printers and their
locations.
 o lpq --- check out the printer queue, e.g. to get the number needed for removal, or
to see how many other files will be printed before yours will come out
o lprm jobnumber --- remove something from the printer queue. You can find the
job number by using lpq. Theoretically you also have to specify a printer name,
but this isn't necessary as long as you use your default printer in the department.
o genscript --- converts plain text files into postscript for printing, and gives you
some options for formatting. Consider making an alias like alias ecop 'genscript
-2 -r \!* | lpr -h -Pvalkyr' to print two pages on one piece of paper.
o dvips filename --- print .dvi files (i.e. files produced by LaTeX). You can use
dviselect to print only selected pages. See the LaTeX page for more information
about how to save paper when printing drafts.
Directories
Directories, like folders on a Macintosh, are used to group files together in a hierarchical
structure.
 mkdir dirname --- make a new directory
 cd dirname --- change directory. You basically 'go' to another directory, and you will see
the files in that directory when you do 'ls'. You always start out in your 'home directory',
and you can get back there by typing 'cd' without arguments. 'cd ..' will get you one level
up from your current position. You don't have to walk along step by step - you can make
big leaps or avoid walking around by specifying pathnames.
 pwd --- tells you where you currently are.

Finding things
 **ff --- find files anywhere on the system. This can be extremely useful if you've
forgotten in which directory you put a file, but do remember the name. In fact, if you use
ff -p you don't even need the full name, just the beginning. This can also be useful for
finding other things on the system, e.g. documentation.
 grep string filename(s) --- looks for the string in the files. This can be useful a lot of
purposes, e.g. finding the right file among many, figuring out which is the right version of
something, and even doing serious corpus work. grep comes in several varieties (grep,
egrep, and fgrep) and has a lot of very flexible options. Check out the man pages if this
sounds good to you.
About other people
 w --- tells you who's logged in, and what they're doing. Especially useful: the 'idle' part.
This allows you to see whether they're actually sitting there typing away at their
keyboards right at the moment.
 who --- tells you who's logged on, and where they're coming from. Useful if you're
looking for someone who's actually physically in the same building as you, or in some
other particular location.
 finger username --- gives you lots of information about that user, e.g. when they last read
their mail and whether they're logged in. Often people put other practical information,
such as phone numbers and addresses, in a file called .plan. This information is also
displayed by 'finger'.
  last -1 username --- tells you when the user last logged on and off and from where.
Without any options, last will give you a list of everyone's logins.
 talk username --- lets you have a (typed) conversation with another user
 write username --- lets you exchange one-line messages with another user
 elm --- lets you send e-mail messages to people around the world (and, of course, read
them). It's not the only mailer you can use, but the one we recommend. See the elm page,
and find out about the departmental mailing lists (which you can also find in
/user/linguistics/helpfile).
About your (electronic) self
 whoami --- returns your username. Sounds useless, but isn't. You may need to find out
who it is who forgot to log out somewhere, and make sure *you* have logged out.
 finger & .plan files
of course you can finger yourself, too. That can be useful e.g. as a quick check whether
you got new mail. Try to create a useful .plan file soon. Look at other people's .plan files
for ideas. The file needs to be readable for everyone in order to be visible through 'finger'.
Do 'chmod a+r .plan' if necessary. You should realize that this information is accessible
from anywhere in the world, not just to other people on turing.
 passwd --- lets you change your password, which you should do regularly (at least once a
year). See the LRB guide and/or look at help password.
 ps -u yourusername --- lists your processes. Contains lots of information about them,
including the process ID, which you need if you have to kill a process. Normally, when
you have been kicked out of a dialin session or have otherwise managed to get yourself
disconnected abruptly, this list will contain the processes you need to kill. Those may
include the shell (tcsh or whatever you're using), and anything you were running, for
example emacs or elm. Be careful not to kill your current shell - the one with the number
closer to the one of the ps command you're currently running. But if it happens, don't
panic. Just try again :) If you're using an X-display you may have to kill some X
processes before you can start them again. These will show only when you use ps -efl,
because they're root processes.
 kill PID --- kills (ends) the processes with the ID you gave. This works only for your own
processes, of course. Get the ID by using ps. If the process doesn't 'die' properly, use the
option -9. But attempt without that option first, because it doesn't give the process a
chance to finish possibly important business before dying. You may need to kill processes
for example if your modem connection was interrupted and you didn't get logged out
properly, which sometimes happens.
 quota -v --- show what your disk quota is (i.e. how much space you have to store files),
how much you're actually using, and in case you've exceeded your quota (which you'll be
given an automatic warning about by the system) how much time you have left to sort
them out (by deleting or gzipping some, or moving them to your own computer).
 du filename --- shows the disk usage of the files and directories in filename (without
argument the current directory is used). du -s gives only a total.
 last yourusername --- lists your last logins. Can be a useful memory aid for when you
were where, how long you've been working for, and keeping track of your phonebill if
you're making a non-local phonecall for dialling in.
Connecting to the outside world
 **telnet hostname --- also lets you connect to a remote host. Use rlogin whenever
possible.
 ftp hostname --- lets you download files from a remote host which is set up as an ftp-
server. This is a common method for exchanging academic papers and drafts. If you need
to make a paper of yours available in this way, you can (temporarily) put a copy in
/user/ftp/pub/TMP. For more permanent solutions, ask Emma. The most important
commands within ftp are get for getting files from the remote machine, and put for
putting them there (mget and mput let you specify more than one file at once). Sounds
straightforward, but be sure not to confuse the two, especially when your physical
location doesn't correspond to the direction of the ftp connection you're making. ftp just
overwrites files with the same filename. If you're transferring anything other than ASCII
text, use binary mode.
Miscellaneous tools
 webster word --- looks up the word in an electronic version of Webster's dictionary and
returns the definition(s)
 date --- shows the current date and time.
 cal --- shows a calendar of the current month. Use e.g., 'cal 10 1995' to get that for
October 95, or 'cal 1995' to get the whole year.
You can find out more about these commands by looking up their manpages:
man commandname --- shows you the manual page for the command

What is FTP?
The FTP (File Transfer Protocol) utility program is commonly used for copying files to and from
other computers. These computers may be at the same site or at different sites thousands of
miles apart. FTP is a general protocol that works on UNIX systems as well as a variety of other
(non-UNIX) systems.

For the purposes of this Web page, the local machine refers to the machine you are initially
logged into, the one on which you type the ftp command. The remote machine is the other one,
the one that is the argument of the ftp command.

A user interface for the standard File Transfer Protocol for ARPANET, FTP acts as an interpreter on
the remote machine. The user may type a number of UNIX-like commands under this interpreter
to perform desired actions on the remote machine.
 Most operating systems and communication programs now include some form of an FTP utility
program, but the commands differ slightly between them. The following explanations and
alphabetical list of commands refers to the common FTP utility program as provided on a UNIX
machine. Check the documentation for your own machine to determine the comparable
commands.

Most computers today include a windows-based type FTP program that is more PC-oriented and
does not require full knowledge of these commands.
You can also perform FTP through a browser. For example, bring up Internet Explorer and type in

            ftp://yourLoginName@IPaddress

instead of a normal web page URL.

The FTP site of the Computer Science department at CSU requires the user to use sftp, the
secure version of FTP. Just type sftp instead of ftp, when you are using FTP in a terminal window.

Getting Started
To connect your local machine to the remote machine, type

            ftp machinename

where machinename is the full machine name of the remote machine, e.g.,
purcell.cs.colostate.edu. If the name of the machine is unknown, you may type

            ftp machinennumber

where machinennumber is the net address of the remote machine, e.g., 129.82.45.181. In either
case, this command is similar to logging onto the remote machine. If the remote machine has
been reached successfully, FTP responds by asking for a loginname and password.

When you enter your own loginname and password for the remote machine, it returns the
prompt

            ftp>

and permits you access to your own home directory on the remote machine. You should be able
to move around in your own directory and to copy files to and from your local machine using the
FTP interface commands given on the following page.

Common FTP Commands

? to request help or information about the FTP
commands
ascii to set the mode of file transfer to ASCII
(this is the default and transmits seven bits per
character)

binary to set the mode of file transfer to binary

(the binary mode transmits all eight bits per byte
and thus provides less chance of a transmission
error and must be used to transmit files other than
ASCII files)

bye to exit the FTP environment (same as quit)

cd to change directory on the remote machine

close to terminate a connection with another computer

  close brubeck

delete to delete (remove) a file in the current remote

directory (same as rm in UNIX)

get to copy one file from the remote machine to the

local machine

  get ABC DEF

  get ABC

help to request a list of all available FTP commands

lcd to change directory on your local machine (same

as UNIX cd)

ls to list the names of the files in the current remote

directory

mkdir to make a new directory within the current remote

directory

mget to copy multiple files from the remote machine to

the local machine;
  you are prompted for a y/n answer before
transferring each file

  mget *

mput to copy multiple files from the local machine to the

remote machine;
  you are prompted for a y/n answer before
 transferring each file

open to open a connection with another computer

  open brubeck

put to copy one file from the local machine to the

remote machine

pwd to find out the pathname of the current directory

on the remote machine

quit to exit the FTP environment (same as bye)

rmdir to to remove (delete) a directory in the current

remote directory