The basics before commands

Root:

Root here is used to refer to system files outside of the user’s directory.
Basically, each user has a home directory, which is contained in a folder separate from the system files.

This makes sure users without administrator access can not modify the system files, only install stuff to the user directory.
This also reduces the chance of malware taking over the system.

Sometimes, operating systems do not come with root access to any user. Two examples are most Android systems (for phones), and Fedora Silverblue (for desktop).
These types of operating systems are referred to immutable operating systems.

Linux distributions:

Linux distributions, commonly called distros in the Linux community, are effectively different operating systems, all using Linux.
They operate in a fork fashion, where operating systems fork off of another one. These operations systems are called forks, and most Linux operating systems are forks of something else.

How it works:
You have the starting GNU operating system. Fedora, Arch Linux, Debian, and Slackware are forked off of the GNU OS.
Ubuntu, Tails OS, Kali Linux, and PureOS are based off of Debian.
Elementary OS, Linux Mint, Zorin OS, and Pop!_OS are forks of Ubuntu.

There are many more Linux operating systems out there that are not shown here, such as QubesOS and Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) that are forked from Fedora. There are over 1000 Linux distros so there are undoubtedly many. many more than I listed.

Distros control file management in some form and affect how to terminal works.

Starting up the terminal

The terminal icon normally has an icon with a black box with >_, > , >., or something similar located inside of it. A visual representation looks as so:

When you open the terminal, you’ll see something like this:

[user@computer ~]$

You have successfully started the terminal, it is ready to be used.

We will be learning how to manage packages and processes today through the terminal.

Installing packages through the terminal

Search for packages

Say you want to install something that looks like the matrix. Maybe let’s search it.

In terms of commands, enter as such to search for matrix:

Fedora:

[user@computer ~]$ dnf search matrix

Manjaro:

[user@computer ~]$ pamac search matrix

Anything else:

[user@computer ~]$ apt search matrix

* Please note that there are multiple distros that do not use these commands, but it is likely that if you are using them you’ll know how to manage packages on them.

Installing packages

Cmatrix looks like a good tool to do the job for this.
Now it’s time to install it.

But before you install it, we need to grant root access in order for the program to work.

This can be done using the command sudo.

After running a command with sudo, you have to enter the administrator password. There is no visual confirmation so watch out.

Fedora:

[user@computer ~]$ sudo dnf install cmatrix

Manjaro:

[user@computer ~]$ sudo pamac install cmatrix

Anything else:

[user@computer ~]$ sudo apt install cmatrix

* Remember the password for sudo - this is important.

It will also install all the dependencies so it won’t break.

Root terminal

If you need to execute more than one terminal command in a row, use of of these two following commands:

[user@computer ~]$ sudo su

[user@computer ~]$ sudo -s

These will change the terminal into a root terminal, which starts with a hashtag:

[root@computer user]#

When you run a command from here, imagine sudo is placed in front of the command.

Uninstalling packages.

Maybe you don’t like it, lets uninstall it.

Fedora:

[user@computer ~]$ sudo dnf remove cmatrix
or
[root@computer user]# dnf remove cmatrix

OR

[user@computer ~]$ sudo dnf erase cmatrix
or
[root@computer user]# dnf erase cmatrix

Manjaro:

[user@computer ~]$ sudo pamac remove cmatrix
or
[root@computer user]# pamac remove cmatrix

Anything else:

[user@computer ~]$ sudo apt remove cmatrix
or
[root@computer user]# apt remove cmatrix

OR

[user@computer ~]$ sudo apt purge cmatrix
or
[root@computer user]# apt purge cmatrix

* The difference between remove and erase/purge is that remove just removes the file, erase/purge removes the config files so if an app breaks on reinstall try using erase/purge.

Updates

Updates are super easy with the terminal! Just run this command:

Fedora:

[user@computer ~]$ sudo dnf update
or
[root@computer user]# dnf update

Manjaro:

[user@computer ~]$ sudo pamac update
or
[root@computer user]# pamac update

Anything else:

[user@computer ~]$ sudo apt update
OR
[root@computer user]# apt update

Process management

Starting processes

Starting processes with the terminal is quite simple. However, you have to know the process name.
For example, Files on GNOME is nautilus, on KDE the file manager is dolphin, and more.
If you just run a command with the name of the program it will open the program.

For example:

[user@computer ~]$ firefox will open Firefox.

[user@computer ~]$ geany will open Geany

[user@computer ~]$ emacs will open Emacs.

Sometimes, the program will make it so that the terminal will not be able to be used until the program is closed.
To circumvent this, add an ampersand at the end of the command.

[user@computer ~]$ firefox & will open Firefox in the background so you can use the terminal even with Firefox open.

[user@computer ~]$ geany & Much of the same as Firefox.

[user@computer ~]$ emacs & You get the idea.

* Much like sudo su, running a process is much the same on any distro.

Running processes with root

Sometimes you want to open programs with root. Like files, to access system files. In which case you would do

[user@computer ~]$ sudo nautilus
or
[root@computer user]# nautilus

OR

[user@computer ~]$ sudo nautilus &
or
[root@computer user]# nautilus &

to open GNOME Files. Or replace nautilus to open any other program with root.
Remember, you need password confirmation.

Killing processes

You could also call it ending processes.

To do it, enter pkill followed by the process name. It will kill the process, for stuff such as gnome-software that stay open in the backgroud when you close them, or for unresponsive processes.

[user@computer ~]$ pkill gnome-software would kill GNOME Software

[user@computer ~]$ pkill session would kill GNOME Sesion, not this logs you out.

[user@computer ~]$ pkill dolphin would kill KDE files.

And you get the idea.

Exit

Now you know how to use the terminal for a few things. Hope it helps you out!

Have you ever wanted something much simpler that is easy to write in with simple formatting, without any buttons, just text? Then try Markdown, probably one of the simplest text editors out there.

It is very simple, but yet also quite powerful. It has no frills, just the basics. It is great for writing documents, notes, comments on social media, and everywhere in between.

What even is Markdown?

Markdown is a text editor that is both simple and powerful. It is different from a WYSIWYG text editor in that Markdown does not look like its end result: it has syntax, like code.

However, Markdown syntax is easy to read, so even if you don’t see the end result you can picture it without advanced technological knowledge.

It is very simple, and is supported by mostly everything. It is not fancy, it is very simple, to keep the user experience nice.

Something to note about Markdown is the syntax is sensitive, so #Header 1 won’t render a header, while # Header 1 will.

Markdown Syntax

Headers

There are six headers in Markdown, and you normally write them with hashtags in front.

# Header 1
 
## Header 2

### Header 3

#### Header 4

##### Header 5

###### Header 6

Which renders as:

Header 1

Header 2

Header 3

Header 4

Header 5

Header 6

I normally use header 1 as title, header 2 as section titles, header 3 as sub-section titles, etc.

Normal text

Breaks

Normal text you can find by typing normally. To go down a line, leave a line of blank space between two paragraphs.

This will not
do anything.

But this will.

will render as:

This will not do anything.

But this will.

If you do want to break, end the line with two or more spaces, and enter once:

No break
here. But I can break with two spaces  
which is cool.

renders as:

No break here. But I can break with two spaces
which is cool.

Paragraph markup

In Markdown, you can italicize text, bold it, and do both at once.

You italicizs text surrounding it with one asterisk or underscore, bold it with two, and do both with three.

**Markdown** is *really cool*, because it is _super_ simple and __easy__.

Markdown is ***probably*** my favorite text editor in this ___world___. 
It is soo*oo*oo**oo**oo***oo*** great!

shows up as:

Markdown is really cool, because it is super simple and easy.

Markdown is probably my favorite text editor in this world. It is soooooooooooo great!

Note: Do not use underscores in the middle of words, it might not work.

"Loo_oooo_ok!"

shows as:

“Loo_oooo_ok!”

It’s best to stick with asterisks here.

Lists

Markdown supports lists of two types, numbered and bulleted.

Numbered Lists

Ordered lists are numbered lists. It doesn’t matter what numbers you put in as long as the first one is a 1.

1. Thing
2. Thing
3. Thing
	1. Sub-thing
	2. Sub-thing
4. Thing

Markdown is cool.

1. Thing
8. Thing
2915. Thing
	1. Sub-thing
	52. Sub-thing
6. Thing

Writing this renders as such in Markdown:

1. Thing
2. Thing
3. Thing
   1. Sub-thing
   2. Sub-thing
4. Thing

Markdown is cool.

1. Thing
2. Thing
3. Thing
   1. Sub-thing
   2. Sub-thing
4. Thing

Bulleted lists

You write bulleted lists with either -, *, or +.

Writing this:

- List
- of
- things
	- sub-thing.

Cool.

+ List
+ of
+ things
	+ sub-thing.

Again?

* List
* of 
* things
	* sub-thing.

would show up like:

• List
• of
• things
  • sub-thing.

Cool.

• List
• of
• things
  • sub-thing.

Again?

• List
• of
• things
  • sub-thing.

Blocks

There are again, two types of blocks, block quotes and code blocks.

Block quotes.

Block quotes are written by starting the line with a >. They can span multiple lines, and nest.

> ### This is my block quote.
>
> It is cool, I like it.
>
> - And it can
>
>> nest in
>>
>>> *and further in*
>>>
>> back out
>>
> and back to here.
>

This is my block quote.

It is cool, I like it.

• And it can

nest in

and further in

back out

and back to here.

Code blocks

Code blocks cone in two forms (twoception, am I right?) again: single-line and multi line.

Single-line code blocks

Single-line code blocks are made by surronding a word with a backtick (`) on each side.

Today, I will look at three shells for Linux: 
`Bash`, `Dash`, and `Fish`.

They all are able to run `sudo firefox`.

Today, I will look at three shells for Linux: Bash, Dash, and Fish.

They all are able to run sudo firefox.

Multi-line code blocks

Multi-line code blocks can be made with three ``` on seperate lines before and after the code block. Don’t put the backslash like I do, I just did it so my code snippet wouldn’t break.

Look at me!
```\
This spans *multiple* lines.

## My Markdown syntax doesn't work!
```\

And now it **does**.

Look at me!

This spans *multiple* lines.

## My Markdown syntax doesn't work!

And now it does.

You can also use code blocks tabbing in once, or twice inside a list, every line of the block.

I didn't use tab here

	But I did here and ended with two spaces  
	So I got a break

- And here in a list

		Tabbed in twice for code
		
		In between lines too

- Back to the list.

I didn’t use tab here

But I did here and ended with two spaces  
So I got a break

• And here in a list

    Tabbed in twice for code
  	
    In between lines too
  

• Back to the list.

Images

Images are formatted with an exclamation mark at the start, the hover text in brackets, and the image directory in parentheses, either a website or saved onto the device (the server hosting the site if the Markdown file is published to the site).

Nix OS has a cool logo, and is a cool operating system. 

Just look at it, it is so pretty.

![Nix OS logo](https://codeberg.org/zxo/pages-src/raw/branch/main/assets/nixos.png)

Nix OS has a cool logo, and is a cool operating system.

Just look at it, it is so pretty.

Links and URLs

Links

Links can be made like images, minus the ! at the start.

## Invidious

Invidious is a frontend for YouTube that does not need JavaScript.

It has multiple instances, you can access them [here](https://redirect.invidious.io/).

Invidious

Invidious is a frontend for YouTube that does not need JavaScript.

It has multiple instances, you can access them here.

URLs (and email adresses)

URLs can be contained within <>, and so can email adresses.

<https://zxo.codeberg.page> is created by me, zxo.

If you want to reach out to me email me at <zxoclm@protonmail.com>.

https://zxo.codeberg.page is created by me, zxo.

If you want to reach out to me email me at zxoclm@protonmail.com.

Escaping

Sometimes you want to use *, -, +, `, or something else without it doing something. Enter escaping - through \ before the character.

* This makes a *list*.

* Wait, it isn't \*italic*?

\* And no more list for me? That's very \*sad*.

• This makes a list.

• Wait, it isn’t *italic*?

* And no more list for me? That’s very *sad*.

Review

Markdown is a cool writing format. It is saved in the .md file type (README.md, among other things), and is used when you need something simple to get the job done. I highly recommend it for documents, READMEs, and more, and I find after a while it almost becomes second nature to type in Markdown.

Have a great day, and I hope you know how to use Markdown now if you didn’t before!

I hope so.

I write this site on Fedora Linux and not the newest Microsoft dumpster fire containing only the latest in spyware which is to release soon after this post, Windows 11.

Writing this with my IKEA stuffed shark next to me.

The tag it came with says Blåhag on it, dont know what that means.

Have a B) day.