To list the contents of a directory, open the terminal and type
ls
ls stands for list.
For more details, use
ls -l
-l stands for long.
To view all files, including hidden files use
ls -a
In Linux, hidden filenames start with a “.”
You can combine -l and -a, like this
ls -al
To change to a directory within the one you are in, use
cd directory-name
To change to a directory in the directory in one you are in, use
cd directory-name/directory-name
To change to the root directory, use
cd /
To change to a directory in root, use
cd /directory-name
To change to the home directory, use
cd ~/
To change to a directory within the home directory, use
cd ~/directory-name
To change up to the directory containing the one you are in, use
cd ..
To change up two levels, use
cd ../..
To display the contents of a file, use
cat filename
This may be used to read text files.
To have root or administrator permissions, use
sudo
before commands.
For example, to start the text editor as root or administrator, use
sudo editor
To stop an application, use
killall app-name