16 Useful ‘cp’ Command Examples for Linux Beginners

Linux Techi ^ | 10 February 2019 | Pradeep Kumar

[Paladin2]

I find vnstat to be useful in monitoring ‘net useage at home.

Especially if I configure the home network to make everything flow through the desktop.

[chuckles]

OK. Hypothetical,....Let's say I'm running Mint and I find out the version of Firefox is about 3 versions behind and I want to upgrade it. So I go download a file. Now what?

In Windows, I click on "Upgrade", go take a leak and come back and it's upgraded. One mouse click....Done!

In Linux, I'm in the File Manager and see a folder with the program I want to run. What file do I click on to make it run? In Windows, just find the EXE file and click. Done! I can operate Linux from a gui, but trying to make my way around behind the gui make NO SENSE to a windows user. basically, I can surf the net, play an audio file, play a video file, and......gimmmeee a minute,.....That's about it. I work with drivers, disks, USB, diagnose problems and fix them, ect in Windows. I can't even mess with a dis without having to mount it first. Why can't it just see the disk and guess that I might want to mess with it and mount it automatically without trying to figure out if it's SDb4 or SDb5? Every single act in Linux is a pain in the butt.

I just think some guru software writer out there could change Linux distro's to act more user friendly( doesn't have to look like Windows) but just act more logically. I'm sure if I was raised on Linux( I'm 67 and started on Dos with a 286@12mhz) maybe Linux would make more sense to me. But starting with Microsoft just makes Windows more logical to me. I would love to use Linux, but it's too much work to get less done. If I spoke the lingo it would be great.

[ShadowAce]

OK. Hypothetical,....Let's say I'm running Mint and I find out the version of Firefox is about 3 versions behind and I want to upgrade it. So I go download a file. Now what?

In Windows, I click on "Upgrade", go take a leak and come back and it's upgraded. One mouse click....Done!

Disclaimer: I run Fedora at home and Red Hat at work. I'm unfamiliar with Debian-based distros like Mint.

That being said, I believe there is a "Software Updater" or Manager, or something like that that performs the same function. Click it and you are updated.

There are also command-line variants where you just type in "apt-get upgrade" and your system gets updated.

[lurked_for_a_decade]

Depending upon your version of Linux(Unix) you would use one of two methods to install pre-packaged Linux ( software packages ) called rpm files from a repository of updates made by the vendor.

RedHat Variants use yum
Debian variants use apt-get

Solaris(Oracle) Unix variants use pkgadd

At the command line level.
http://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man8/yum.8.html

or

http://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man1/dpkg.1.html

or

https://docs.oracle.com/cd/E19455-01/806-0625/6j9vfilsu/index.html

There is a binding between software file types and commands
that enable you to click on a package icon and install it through the graphical user interface of your choice.

The sudo comman and its config file has to give you administrative permission to run these commands through the graphical interface otherwise you have to sudo to root and type the command manually at a command line terminal application interface of your choice.

Setting this up varies also depending on your desktop version, Gnome, KDE, etc.

If you use the yum.conf file you can config the repositories and separate vendor repositories where software updates are grabbed off the internet and simply type:

sudo yum install.

debian has a similar command.

All these can be scheduled to occur automatically.

At the bottom of every Linux manual page like the two linked above there is a “SEE ALSO” section. Like this

SEE ALSO

apt-get(8), apt-cache(8), sources.list(5), apt.conf(5), apt-config(8), The APT User’s guide in /usr/share/doc/apt-doc/, apt_preferences(5), the APT Howto.

The number in parenthesis is the section of the manual.

Separte sections exist for commands section (1), programmers API section (2), software configurations(8) etc.

man -s 1 yum

is from section 1

man -s 8 yum

is from section 8 etc.

Full manuals have a package name and can be installed locally as a choice when you installed your distribution or later when the need arises.

Once the manuals are installed you can look up any command with the man command:
Example:

man yum
or
man dpkg.

even man man.

There is also a graphical interface program that enables you to browse the manual and all it’s pages like an adobe pdf reader.

Every command you need and Applications Programmer interface call at the C or C++ programming language is also available.

Software packages that are properly written will install new manual pages for that package.

For example a complete set of manual pages for all programs and library’s will be installed when you install the python packages of the Development environment packages.

There is an interface that allows you to browse graphically the repository of software availabke, patches, updates and third party vendor software also.

There are software packages that are distributed in a manner that requires you to unpack them from a compresses tar (tape archive), run a build or config command that sets up a file that has appropriate flags for the compilers etc and then run the make command, followed by make install.

Within the tar containing the software is usually a file named README that gives full instructions for configuring, building and installing the software.

These are usually not “professionally” packaged from a vendor or opensource source. Some are from universities or just available as is type stuff.

I’m done I could go on and on all day about this stuff.

Build software distribution packages for all the above methods is an art form in itself.

https://git-scm.com/

or

https://maven.apache.org/

or

https://ant.apache.org/

Pulling all of this togetor is very complex Integrated Development Environments like this

https://www.eclipse.org/

I’m so glad I retired. My brain was about to pop before I quit.

Pulling all this together for serious developers can take years after getting a BS and/or MS in Computer Science and the luck of working in a professional environments. The devil is in the details. Most environments aren’t professional.

[lurked_for_a_decade]

When I login to my Linux, I can select the desktop environment I use before selecting my User Id and entering my password.

The Gnome environment has gone a long way for making it easy.

Different Desktop environments have different environments.

Unix unlike windows is a command line environment with a Graphical interface built on top off it.

Windows is a graphical environment that changes in every release with a poor operating system underneath it.

One was built from the bottom up; The other was built from the top down.

It is a whole different design philosophy in Unix that evolved from a research environment.

The best book for understanding what is under the hood in Unix and why is Kernighan and Pikes book,

“The Unix programming Environment”

[Varmint Al]

OK. Hypothetical,....Let's say I'm running Mint and I find out the version of Firefox is about 3 versions behind and I want to upgrade it. So I go download a file. Now what?

I use Linux Mint Cinnamon 19.1 Tessa. Your "Hypothetical" is not valid. In Linux Mint there is an Icon on the panel that indicates that one or more updates are available. One merely clicks on the Icon and Volia! the updates are installed after you enter your password.

To launch a program, merely click on the Menu Icon on the left side of the panel and start typing the name -- Linux Mint will show all of the software that starts with those few characters. One merely click the program you want to launch. It is that simple.

Linux Mint is designed to be even easier to use than Windows from the desktop, without using the command line.

You can download the free Linux Mint install .ISO file and burn it on a USB stick or DVD and try it "on the fly" even without installing it.

Good Hunting... from Varmint Al

[Varmint Al]

Here is my Linux Mint Desktop. I have put the important Icons on my Desktop. To launch any of these is merely a double-click. I also put the Software Manager up and you can get an idea of all the FREE software that one can get by merely clicking the Install button.

Good Hunting... from Varmint Al