This article is a practical guide giving you some shortcuts to ease your way around Linux. This is a compilation coming out of some reading on our part, references from various resources on the net and of course the many gray hairs that we have acquired -- administrating and using Linux. Apart from a whole lot of tips out here, we will also be dealing with some common commands that you will need while working on any *nix system. In general it would safe to say that almost all the commands mentioned here should work in the same manner on the other Unices out there. Well, almost.

Let's look at the syntax of the following statement. crtl+alt+f. What is meant by this statement is that you have to press the keys crtl, alt and f at the same time. Do as you would for ctrl+alt+del under Windows.

Common shortcuts you should know

Ctrl+Alt+'+': Using this command switches you to a higher resolution than your GUI started up in.

Ctrl+Alt+'-': Using this command switched the screen resolution lower.

Ctrl+Alt+Backspace': It kills the X server. Use it if your normal logout option does not work.

Shift+PageUp: Scrolls up through the terminal output. Use this and the one below to move through screenfuls of information.

Shift+PageDown: Scrolls down through the terminal output.

Ctrl+Alt+F1: Linux gives you the capability of working on more than one virtual terminal at a time. You can have any number of virtual terminals but most Linux system are setup for six that are accessible through 'ctrl + alt + f1' to 'ctrl + alt + f6'. So, basically f1-fn tells your system to switch to the virtual terminal corresponding to the function key number. You will be using this most often to jump from one terminal to another.

Ctrl+Alt+F7: While working in the Unix command line interface, if you want to get back into the GUI mode, all you have to do is issue this command.

Ctrl+C: This command halts a running process. Use this to quickly exit from any program that you are running.

Ctrl+D: This command is used to log you out of a particular terminal. It also issues an EOF (End Of File) to the program that you are working in.

Ctrl+Z: Sends a current process into the background. Also if your terminal is messed up because you 'cat' a binary file 'ctrl + z' will clear up the screen for you and give you a clean prompt.

Ctrl+S: Scroll lock. Your screen will not be updated.

Ctrl+Q: Remove the scroll lock set above. You will now be able to interact properly with your terminal.