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Course Overview This course provides a comprehensive introduction to using Linux for a wide range of activities. It covers installation of Linux, and the use of command-line utilities such as the shell, in addition to graphical tools based on the Gnome desktop environment. Important desktop applications such as office tools and email are discussed, but the course pays equal attention to the powerful UNIX "tool-building" philosophy which allows solutions to be built at the command line by using existing tools in combination. The course does not lean heavily towards any specific Linux distribution but focuses on that large core of tools and utilities that are common to all distributions. Lab activities are dual-tracked and may be performed in a RedHat-style environment (Fedora) or a Debian-style environment (Ubuntu). Audience The course is designed to offer a "first sight" of Linux for end-users, developers, system administrators, database administrators, technical managers, help desk staff, or anyone who needs to understand and use Linux on a day-to-day basis. Skills Gained At the completion of this course you will be able to: - Install Linux from standard media
- View and manage files and directories using command line tools
- Make Productive use of the Gnome desktop environment
- Develop simple scripted solutions using the shell and text filter tools
- Employ standard office applications including word processors, spreadsheets and email
- Locate and install open-source software from internet repositories
- Become self-sufficient by locating and studying Linux documentation
Prerequisites Attendees should have previous experience with some other operating system (perhaps Windows or Mac OS X) and they should be reasonably proficient at typing and entering simple commands. They should understand concepts such as files, directories (folders) and programs. No previous knowledge of Linux is assumed. Course Outline Chapter 1: The Background to Linux - A little bit of history (but not much)
- How is Linux different from Windows?
- What is open source software?
- Is it really free?
- What platforms does it run on?
- How secure is it?
- How do the various Linux distributions differ?
- What support is available?
- The scope of Linux
- Graphical desktops and tools
- Command line tools and utilities
- Software development languages
- Networking support
- Web and e-commerce support
Chapter 2: Installing Linux - Choosing and obtaining the right installation media
- Key installation decisions
- Time zone, language and keyboard layout
- Choosing a partitioning scheme
- Choosing what software you want to install
- Network settings
- Machine name and domain name
- Automatic (DHCP) configuration vs manual configuration
- Other installation chores
- Installing the boot loader
- Setting the root password (if there is one!)
- Creating user accounts
- More complex scenarios
- Preserving existing partitions
- Dual booting Linux and Windows
Chapter 3: Using the Gnome Desktop - Basic Operations
- Starting and stopping Linux
- Logging in and logging out
- Grand Tour of the desktop
- Switching between virtual desktops
- File system basics
- Files and directories
- File ownerships and permissions
- Managing files with Nautilus
- Browsing the filesystem
- Icon view, list view and the side panel
- Attaching emblems to files
- Examining and changing access permissions
- Moving and deleting files using drag-and-drop
- Editing with gedit
- Customising the desktop
- Selecting backgrounds, themes and other trivia
- Adding launch icons to the desktop and task bar
- Configuring window and mouse behaviour
- Associating applications with file types
- Eye candy: Fancy effects with compiz
- Handling Multimedia content
- Licensing issues
- Playing MP3, Ogg and other formats
- Extracting tracks from CDs
- Flash plugins
- Importing photos from digital cameras
- Managing and printing photos
- Playing DVDs
Chapter 4: Working at the Command Line - Introducing the shell
- Starting a terminal window
- Setting terminal window preferences
- Command syntax
- Ten commands to get you started
- Command history
- Examining files and directories
- Using absolute and relative pathnames
- Viewing text files with less
- Listing directories with ls
- Filename completion
- Finding files with find and locate
- Managing the filesystem from the command line
- Copying, moving and deleting files
- Using wildcards
- Changing file ownership and permissions
- Creating and removing directories
Chapter 5: Power Tools - Filtering and processing text
- Standard input and output streams
- Redirecting input and output to files or other programs
- Eight useful filters: wc, head, tail, sort, ...
- Matching text patterns with regular expressions
- Regular expression syntax
- Examples using grep
- Six useful things to do with regular expressions
- Using programs in combination
- Pipelines
- Command substitution
- Editing text files
- Surviving with vi
- Alternative editors (nano, gedit, ...)
Chapter 6: Shell scripting with bash - Creating a simple script
- Making the script executable
- Passing arguments
- Local and environment variables
- Input and output within scripts
- The importance of exit status
- Flow control within scripts
- The concepts of TRUE and FALSE
- Testing program exit status
- Pattern-matching and file property tests
- Looping and branching
Chapter 7: Installing new applications - Package management tools
- Listing installed packages (rpm and dpgk)
- Package repositories
- Command-line package management tools (yum, apt-get)
- Graphical package management tools
- Manual and automatic updates
- Building from source
- Why might you want to do this?
- Downloading and unpacking the source archive
- Building and installing the application
Chapter 8: How to get help - Local help
- Man pages and info pages
- --help command option
- Ubuntu help centre
- Gnome desktop guides
- On-line help
- Linux community web sites
- Documentation on the Internet
- Book recommendations
Chapter 9: Office Applications - Document Preparation with OpenOffice.org
- Writer -- Office documents
- Calc -- Spreadsheets
- Impress -- Presentations
- Graphics
- Producing line graphics with dia
- Editing images with The GIMP
- Professional page layout with Scribus
- Email
- Graphical mail interfaces
- Command line mailers
- Script-driven mailing
- Web Browsers
- Firefox, Opera, others
Chapter 10: Interoperating with Windows - Dual Booting
- Accessing windows filesystems
- Serving files and printers to Windows
- Running windows apps under Linux
- Virtualisation solutions
- Trading Microsoft Office documents
How to make a booking for the 3000 course
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