Terminal

The terminal activity is the pathway to internal organs of the OLPC.  Once you launch terminal, you are now in the land of Linux and like a visit to any foreign country, it helps to speak a bit of the native language. Here are some links to "Basic Linux" pages:

• Linux Survival Course
• The One Page Linux Manual
• Linux Tutorial
• First Steps into Linux
• The LBook: An Introductory Guide to Linux Basics

You may also be asked to change the content of a file.  There's no file editing activity available for the OLPC so you'll have to use one of the built-in Linux editors instead.  Here are just enough "vi" commands to get you by - and potentially be dangerous (so take advantage of the "quit" command if things get out of control):

• vi filename ---- edit the file called filename in the current directory
• use the cursor keys on the OLPC to navigate to the text to be changed
• x --- delete the character under the cursor
• a --- append characters after cursor until <ESC> key is pressed (that's the key in the upper left)
• r --- replace single character under cursor, no need to press ESC key
• u --- undo what ever you just did
• :x --- save file with changes (there's a colon before the x)
• :q! --- quit editing without saving changes (there's a colon before the q and an exclamation point after)

 Page last changed: 07/29/2008