Ftp another machine. (There is also ncftp which adds extra features and gftp for GUI .) Ftp is good for copying files to/from a remote machine. Try user anonymous if you don’t have an account on the remote server.

The essential ftp commands are:

ls (see the files on the remote system), ASCII, binary (set the file transfer mode to either text or binary, it is important that you select the proper one ),

get (copy a file from the remote system to the local system),

mget (get many files at once), put (copy a file from the local system to the remote system),

mput (put many files at once), bye (disconnect).

For automation in a script, you may want to use ncftpput and ncftpget, for example:

ncftpput -u my_user_name -p my_password -a remote.host.domain remote_dir *local.html

minicom

Minicom program. It’s a communication program that somewhat resembles the famous old DOS communication program, Telix. You could always use your existing shell accounts via minicom.

/program_name

Run an executable in the current directory, which is not on your PATH

xinit

Start a barebone X-windows server (without a window manager).

startx

Start an X-windows server and the default window manager. Works like typing win under DOS with Win3.1

startx -- :1

Start another X-windows session on the display 1 (the default is opened on display 0). You can have several GUI terminals running concurrently. Switch between them using Ctrl+Alt+F7, Ctrl+Alt+F8, etc.

xterm (an X terminal)

Run a simple X-windows terminal. Typing exit will close it.

shutdown -h

Shut down the system to a halt. Mostly used for a remote shutdown. Allowed only when logged in as root. Use Ctrl+Alt+Del for a shutdown at the console (which can be done by any user).

halt

Halt the machine. Used for remote shutdown, simpler to type than the previous command.

man topic

Display the contents of the system manual pages (help) on the topic. Try man man first. Press q to quit the viewer. The command info works in a similar fashion and may contain more up-to-date information. Manual pages can sometimes be hard to read.

--help

Brings up a short, easy to digest help on a command. If you need more info, go to the directory /usr/doc and look for the command.