At this point, you
should be fairly proficient at using the vi command. Once you get used to using vi, you will probably
find other text editors less efficient to use.
When you invoke vi in many Linux systems, you??™re actually invoking the vim text editor,
which runs in vi compatibility mode. Those who do a lot of programming might prefer
vim because it shows different levels of code in different colors. vim has other useful features, such as
the capability to open a document with the cursor at the same place as it was when you last exited
that file.
Summary
Working from a shell command line within Linux may not be as simple as using a GUI, but it
offers many powerful and flexible features. This chapter explains how to find your way around the
shell in Linux and provides examples of running commands, including recalling commands from a
history list, completing commands, and joining commands.
NOTE
79
Running Commands from the Shell 2
The chapter describes how shell environment variables can be used to store and recall important
pieces of information. It also teaches you how to modify shell configuration files to tailor the shell
to suit your needs. Finally, this chapter shows you how to use the Linux file system to create files
and directories, use permissions, work with files (moving, copying, and removing them), and how
to edit text files from the shell using the vi command.
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