Often the user is expected to install packages to get a certain software up and running in the machine. Following commands help you get around this task.
The program whoami is from the package coreutils. This program outputs the username of the user logged in. /usr/bin/whoami
The program groups is from the package coreutils. This program outputs which groups the user belongs to. /usr/bin/groups
To check if you are one of the superusers in your system and to know who else has admin privileges, view the contents of the file /etc/sudoers. Even to view this file you need admin privileges.
/usr/bin/sudo /bin/cat /etc/sudoers
Find out latest updates of the OS from the repository. This program fetches the updates from the list of sources as in /etc/apt/sources.list.
/usr/bin/sudo /usr/bin/apt-get update
Install the updates to bring the OS of the machine to the latest available.
/usr/bin/sudo /usr/bin/apt-get upgrade
Remove packages that are not needed by any installed software, to save disc space.
/usr/bin/sudo /usr/bin/apt-get autoremove
Install a package to add a new functionality to the system.
/usr/bin/sudo /usr/bin/apt-get install <package-name>
Look for the name of the command in the packages installed on the machine -- often to locate it in the filesystem.
/usr/bin/dpkg -S <command>
Look for the name of the command in the packages installed on the machine -- often to locate it in the filesystem.
/usr/bin/apt-file find <file>
List all the files that are provided by a package. Similar to above.
/usr/bin/apt-file list <package>
- Install packages to add the following commands to your system and explore what they do: fortune, octave, pdftk, unison, wget, curl, gftp, xfig and vlc.
- Packages come as groups too. Explore the GUI feature for Ubuntu Software to see what those groups are in the topics under categories like "Productivity", "Education and Science".
- Try and get the entire TeX document preparation software toolset installed on your machine.