Linux CLI and Shell scripting

Collection of resources for Linux command line, shell scripting (mostly bash) and a few on topics like Linux Kernel, distributions, applications, etc.

Installation and Documentation

A Linux distribution (often abbreviated as distro) is an operating system made from a software collection that is based upon the Linux kernel and, often, a package management system. Linux users usually obtain their operating system by downloading one of the Linux distributions, which are available for a wide variety of systems ranging from embedded devices (for example, OpenWrt) and personal computers (for example, Linux Mint) to powerful supercomputers (for example, Rocks Cluster Distribution) — wikipedia

• /r/linux4noobs wiki — Linux distribution selection for noobs
• Linux/Bash on Windows
  • Git for Windows — provides a Bash emulation used to run Git from the command line
  • Cygwin — large collection of GNU and Open Source tools which provide functionality similar to a Linux distribution on Windows
  • Linux Subsystem for Windows — compatibility layer for running Linux binary executables natively on Windows
• Linux man pages — one of several websites that host man pages online
• ArchWiki — comprehensive documentation for Arch Linux and other distributions
• Debian Reference — broad overview of the Debian system, covers many aspects of system administration through shell-command examples

CLI text tutorials

• Linux for Beginners — solid foundation in how to use the terminal, to get the computer to do useful work for you
• UNIX Tutorial for Beginners — eight simple tutorials which cover the basics of UNIX / Linux commands
• Linux Basics — cli basics, shell scripting, text processing, package management, etc
• Learn Enough Command Line to Be Dangerous — a tutorial introduction to the command line
• The Front-End Developer's Guide to the Terminal — missing manual of terminal fundamentals needed to work with modern JS frameworks

CLI video and interactive courses

• Linux Journey — cli basics, text manipulation, processes, packages, networking, etc
• MIT: The Missing Semester of Your CS Education — master the command-line, use a powerful text editor, use fancy features of version control systems, and much more
• edx: Introduction to Linux — cli basics, shell scripting, text manipulation, etc
• Linux Survival — free tutorial designed to make it as easy as possible to learn Linux, uses a simulated terminal
• Terminus — use basic commands to explore the filesystem

Shell Scripting

• Bash Guide — aspires to teach good practice techniques for using Bash, and writing simple scripts
• Bash Scripting Tutorial — solid foundation in how to write Bash scripts, to get the computer to do complex, repetitive tasks for you
• Bash Handbook — for those who want to learn Bash without diving in too deeply
• Serious Shell Programming — focuses on POSIX-compliant Bourne Shell for portability

Scripting companion

• shellcheck — linting tool to avoid common mistakes and improve your script
• Comprehensive lists on mywiki.wooledge.org website:
  • Bash FAQ
  • Bash Practices
  • Bash Pitfalls
• Google shell style guide
• Reliability and robustness
  • safe ways to do things in bash
  • better scripting
  • robust scripting
  • Unix shell script tactics — write better Unix shell script code for speed, security, stability, and portability

Books

• Linux Command Line Computing — my ebook on Linux command line and Shell Scripting for beginner to intermediate level users
• The Linux Command Line — basics of command line use and shell scripting, environment configuration, and more
• wizard zines — programming zines
  • Bite Size Bash, Bite Size Command Line, Bite Size Linux, Bite Size Networking
• Linux Bible — basic operations, server management, administration, automated deployment, etc
• How Linux Works: What Every Superuser Should Know — booting, device drivers, networking, development tools, effective shell scripts, etc
• UNIX and Linux System Administration Handbook — definitive guide to installing, configuring and maintaining any Unix or Linux system
• Linux kernel and its insides — kernel insides, and other low-level subject matter
• Linux command line for you and me — for newcomers to command line environment
• The Debian Administrator's Handbook — reference book presenting the Debian distribution, from initial installation to configuration of services

Tips and Tricks

• The Art of Command Line — notes and tips on using the command-line, suitable for both beginners and experienced users
• stackoverflow: Command line tricks
• commandlinefu — command-line gems, includes a handy search feature
• Bash-Oneliner — collection of handy Bash One-Liners and terminal tricks for data processing and Linux system maintenance
• Bash Idioms — decipher old bash code and write new code that's as clear and readable as possible
• Unix oneliners — mostly unorganized collection of bash oneliners

Cheatsheets

• tldr — collection of community-maintained help pages for command-line tools
• explainshell — write down a command-line to see the help text that matches each argument
• General purpose command-line tools — examples for most common usecases
• Bash reference cheatsheet — nicely formatted and explained well
• Bash scripting cheatsheet — quick reference to getting started with Bash scripting
• GNU BRE/ERE cheatsheet — also highlights subtle differences between grep, sed and awk regex flavors

Text processing

• My ebooks:
  • CLI text processing with GNU grep and ripgrep
  • CLI text processing with GNU sed
  • CLI text processing with GNU awk
  • Perl One-Liners Guide
  • Ruby One-Liners Guide
  • CLI text processing with GNU Coreutils — head, tail, tr, sort, pr, paste, join, etc
  • Command line text processing with Rust tools — ripgrep, frawk, hck, huniq, zet, etc
  • Linux Command Line Computing — includes several text processing tools
• Data Science at the Command Line — Obtain, Scrub, Explore, and Model Data with Unix Power Tools
• Data ops on the Linux command line — analysing, archiving, auditing, cleaning, de-duplicating, etc

Miscellaneous

• Unix and Linux Permissions Primer
• How To Use Rsync to Sync Local and Remote Directories
• htop explained — explanation of everything you can see in htop/top on Linux
• cron — job scheduler on Unix-like operating systems
• SSH commands — popular SSH commands, key generation, SSH agents, etc
• Editing Videos with FFmpeg — clipping, adding fade in/out, scaling, concat, etc
  • ffmpeg.guide — GUI tool to create complex FFmpeg filtergraphs quickly and correctly
  • ffmprovisr — making FFmpeg easier, this app helps users through the command generation process
• Mastering curl: interactive text guide
• How To Use Wget to Download Files and Interact with REST APIs

Further Reading

• Unix as IDE
• unix.stackexchange: command-line Q&A sorted by votes
• Resource lists
  • learn-anything: Linux
  • Awesome Linux resources
  • Awesome Shell resources
  • Awesome Bash
• Application lists for audio, video, graphics & design, development, games etc
  • Arch wiki — general list of applications sorted by category, as a reference for those looking for packages
  • AlternativeTo — crowdsourced software recommendations
  • GNU packages — find a tool based on categories

Forums

Read instructions provided by respective forums before asking a question. Try solving it yourself before asking — searching online, manual, ask a colleague, etc.

• unix.stackexchange
• /r/commandline
• /r/bash
• /r/linux4noobs
• /r/linuxquestions
• /r/linux — general linux discussion
• askubuntu — Ubuntu and general Linux topics
• TuxURLs — Linux news aggregator