Ubuntu Guide For Windows Users: Getting Help At The Command Prompt

For many new Ubuntu and Linux users, making the transition from Windows to Ubuntu is an exercise in not getting frustrated. For those who stick it out, there comes that eventual time when you need to go beyond the GUI, fire up a Terminal window and start working at the command prompt.

Because Linux provides so many commands and possible options, you can’t expect to recall all of them or know their meaning

To help, Linux provides several methods, such as man and the apropos commands, which let you access a help database that describes each command and its options.

As always with any Linux based system, many resources are available when help is needed, and the command prompt is no exception. One thing to keep in mind when using the command prompt, unlike Windows, Linux (including Ubuntu) is case sensitive, so be sure to type each character of a command in the proper case.

Display Options And Arguments For Commands

Say you’re working with a command and you want to know what options are available. The easiest method is to just type the command with the help option:

command –help