One Hour Intro to Linux

This is a quick intro to Linux that can be given to a user in one hour during a regular volunteer session. Will cover everything someone needs to be a basic user.

What is Xubuntu?

Xubuntu is the distro of Linux that we have chosen as our standard. It's a fork of Ubuntu, which is a very popular distro that was designed as a user-friendly desktop.

Xubuntu is just Ubuntu with the XFCE desktop. Unlike popular commercial operating systems, you have many choices for different desktop styles to use in Linux. XFCE is a popular lightweight desktop that runs fast on older computers, like the ones we typically have.

Ubuntu is likewise a fork of Debian, which is a major distro that many others are based on. Most of what you learn with Xubuntu applies to other Debian-based distros.

Making Changes, Superuser

Most important changes like installing programs need to be done under a root account. The account you created when you installed Xubuntu originally and usually sign into is not the root account. This is for safety and security.

The simplest way to sign in as root is by typing su in the terminal. It will then ask you for the root password, which is by default the same as the user account password you set up during installation.

More common though, is typing sudo. Typing it before any command will run that command

Using External Media

When you plug in a key drive or external hard drive, Xubuntu will automatically detect it and mount it. You will see an icon on the desktop that can be used to access it. Inside the filesystem, the key drive will actually be mounted inside the /media directory. You may have to look there if the icon does not appear.

Files and Folders

The FHS

CHMOD

The Command Line

Xubuntu, our standard linux distro has GUI tools for everything, but there are a few basic commands everyone should know, and are still very useful.

Installing New Programs

apt-get, .deb packages