3. Meet bash
Good news: with Linux you type much less at the prompt, because the
bash shell types for you whenever possible, and features cool line
editing capabilities. To begin with, the arrow-up key recalls previous
command lines; but there's more. Pressing <TAB> completes file and
directory names, so typing
$ ls /uTABloTABbTAB
is like typing
$ ls /usr/local/bin
If there were ambiguities, as typing
$ ls /uTABloTABiTAB
bash stops because it doesn't know if you mean
/usr/local/info or /usr/local/include. Supply more
characters then press <TAB> again.
Other useful key presses are <ESC-BACKSPACE> that deletes a word to the left, while <ESC-D> deletes a word to the right; <ESC-F> moves the cursor one word to the right, <ESC-B> to the left; <CTRL-A> moves to the beginning of the line, <CTRL-E> to the end. The <ALT> key is equivalent to <ESC>.
Enough for now. Once you get used to these shortcuts, you'll find the DOS prompt very annoying...
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