Almost anything can be done graphically on a modern GNU/Linux distribution like openSUSE, but to really become a self-reliant user and to truly take advantage of the power of your GNU/Linux operating system, you should at least know a few terminal basics.

You'll find Konsole under Favorites in the Kickoff menu.




Using the command line is quite easy. Simply enter a command and possibly one or more options and one or more arguments and then press Enter. Example:
The command 'ls' displays a list of files, the option '-l' means that the list will be displayed in a long listing format, and the argument '/home/user/download/' sets the directory of which the contents are listed.


The tab-key is increcibly useful, if possible it will auto-complete commands and arguments, which helps you work faster and avoid typos.

Paste from the clipboard.

This shortcut stops any operation you may have started.

This is just a very small selection of commands to give you an idea of how things work.


Changing directory

Listing files of a directory

Copying a file

Deleting a file

Deleting a directory including contents

Moving or renaming a file

Find out your IP-address

Running processes and consumpition of system resources. Press 'Q' to exit.

Disk space usage

Memory consumption

Almost all commands have an accompanying manual page describing how to use the command and the available options. For example type:
To leave the man page again press 'Q'

To switch to the root user to perform system administration tasks, type:

Then type your (root) password. Nothing will appear on screen as you type, this is intended.


To stop working as root and return to working as your normal user, run 'exit'.

Shutting down.

Rebooting.

Start, stop, restart or get status of system services (start|stop|restart|status). Examples:


Check kernel messages.

Listing loaded kernel modules.

Loading a kernel module.

Unloading a kernel module.

Editing configuration files or other text files can be done like this using the vim editor.

Open a file with 'vim /path/to/file'. Example:


Press 'i' to enter insert mode. Now you can edit the file. When you're done editing press Esc to leave insert mode. Now type :x which is the command for exit and save.

If you want to learn more about using the terminal there are many resources available on the internet, here are a couple of links.
http://www.oreillynet.com/linux/cmd/
http://www.tuxfiles.org/linuxhelp/cli.html
http://tldp.org/LDP/GNU-Linux-Tools-Summary/html/index.html