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First steps / Stage 3 of 15

Working comfortably in the terminal

Not running Starting usually ~20 s
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Step 1 of 8 · on a machine · 3 min

One key in two places

What you will learn

  • Fix a command before running it and repeat commands from history.
  • Complete names with Tab and find the line you need in long text.
  • Get the prompt back with an interrupt and know what stays done.

You scroll through a long log, close it, and want to repeat your last command. Press the same key in two places and compare what it does.

The log is in the ~/terminal-practice directory. Start on the card creates the directory and takes you into it.

Exercise · look

The log and the prompt

In ~/terminal-practice, open the log with less notes.txt and click the terminal. Press the Down arrow a few times, then the Up arrow, and quit with q. Back at the prompt, press the Up arrow again and see what appears on the line.

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Check yourself 1 question

Why did the Up arrow scroll lines in the log but bring back a command at the prompt?

  • The terminal keeps no commands: it passes keystrokes on and shows text. The last command came from the program that read the arrow at the prompt.

  • While the log is open, the arrows move its lines. The command appeared on the line at the prompt, after q.

  • It did: the log lines moved. Open less notes.txt again and press the arrow a few times — the text scrolls.

The arrow was read by the program running at that moment: less in the log, the shell at the prompt.

Found an inaccuracy? Report an error in the lesson

Ubuntu 24.04
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