unix questions

[wkm2424]

i have an older book on unix (teach yourself unix - 4th edition). i'm wondering if i would learn something about using osx from this book, or is osx too different/modern for this book? i looked in the index, and there are some commands in the book, like chmod, mkdir, rmdir, and others, which are the same commands that i've seen osx users talk about.

also, where might be a good place to find osx unix commands?

[sao]

wkm2424,

To start, you can download the guide "Terminal Basics-v2.0" from MacOS X Hints web site:

http://www.macosxhints.com/

If you are using the tcsh shell, the command:

% builtins

will give you a list of all the commands built into the tsch shell. You can read the tcsh man pages about them.

Cheers...

[wkm2424]

i'm only two days old in OSX years, so i don't know much at all yet about osx. would i be right in that all file handling and unix commands are done in the terminal?

[Craig R. Arko]

Well, file handling is generally done in the Finder, but UNIX commands are run in the terminal, or via a 3rd party GUI interface.

You may want to start with a book like David Pogue's "Mac OS X: The Missing Manual" to get up to speed on the basics of the OS, from a non-UNIXy perspective. Or "Learning Unix for Mac OS X"; by Taylor and Peek. Both books are published by O'Reilly (http://mac.oreilly.com/). There is also Griffman's excellent "OS X Guidebook2 v1.1", which you can download from the main Macosxhints site.

After you have some more flight time (but not right away) start searching the forums here for 'fink'; which may introduce you to the UNIX application world beyond what Apple ships with OS X. But get the basics down first, and you won't regret it.

[nkuvu]

No, not really. All unix comands are done through the Terminal, but there are plenty of things as far as file handling goes that can be done through the Finder. Permissions, for example, can be modified via the Get Info box, and deleting can be done using the Trash. ;)

Doh. Craig, you beat me to it. Which is OK, since you're providing more information anyway... :rolleyes:

[wkm2424]

alright, thanks very much. i was thinking about buying the OSX missing manual, just because i like the author (i have his os9 book). but since you've recommended it, i'll go out and buy it. care to give me some cash so i can do that? ;)

[sao]

wkm2424,

If you can't afford to buy a book, you still can find good tutorials by doing a google search. Check these sites here:

http://directory.google.com/Top/Computers/Systems/Apple/Macintosh/FAQs,_Help,_and_Tutorials/Mac_OS_X/

and especially this web site:

http://www.magicpubs.com/mac/macosx.html

and about unix tutorials here:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Unix+Tutorials&btnG=Google+Search

Good luck.

Cheers...