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<TITLE>5. Learning More</TITLE>
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<B> Next:</B> <A NAME="tex2html220"
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HREF="node7.html">6. Super Dimension Fortress</A>
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<B> Up:</B> <A NAME="tex2html216"
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HREF="unx.html">Introduction to Unix &</A>
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<B> Previous:</B> <A NAME="tex2html210"
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HREF="node5.html">4. Some Basic Commands</A>
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  <B> <A NAME="tex2html218"
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HREF="node1.html">Contents</A></B>
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<!--Table of Child-Links-->
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<A NAME="CHILD_LINKS"><STRONG>Subsections</STRONG></A>
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<UL>
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<LI><A NAME="tex2html221"
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HREF="#SECTION00610000000000000000">5.1 The Man</A>
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<UL>
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<LI><A NAME="tex2html222"
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HREF="#SECTION00611000000000000000">5.1.1 The man is for real</A>
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<BR>
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<LI><A NAME="tex2html223"
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HREF="#SECTION00620000000000000000">5.2 Gnu info</A>
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<LI><A NAME="tex2html224"
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HREF="#SECTION00630000000000000000">5.3 Books</A>
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<LI><A NAME="tex2html225"
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HREF="#SECTION00640000000000000000">5.4 Folklore</A>
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</UL>
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<!--End of Table of Child-Links-->
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<HR>
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<H1><A NAME="SECTION00600000000000000000">
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5. Learning More</A>
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</H1>
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<P>
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<H1><A NAME="SECTION00610000000000000000">
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5.1 The Man</A>
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</H1>
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<P>
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Most of a unix system is documented in the online manual,
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called the <EM>man</EM>. If you want to know about a program,
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you look it up in the <EM>man</EM>. For example, if you want
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to learn more about the <EM>ls</EM> program, type ``<TT>man
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ls</TT>''.
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<P>
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The man also has a simple search capability. The ``<TT>-k</TT>'' command line option tells the man to give you a list
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of entries that mention a particular keyword, which you also
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supply on the command line. If you want to
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get a list of the manual entries that menion networking, you
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would type ``<TT>man -k network</TT>''.
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<P>
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The man is divided into sections. If you don't specify a
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section when you ask the man to lookup documentation for a
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program, the man takes a guess about what section you mean,
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& it usually assumes you mean the most general, high-level
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section available (section 1). You can specify a section as
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the second argument to <EM>man</EM>, before the keyword. For
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example, if I want to read about the <TT>select</TT> function
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in section 2 (the kernel API), I would type ``<TT>man 2
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select</TT>''.
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<P>
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Here are some things I recommend reading in the man to get
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started with unix. I give you the exact command to type,
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then an explanation of why I recommend that entry in the man.
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<P>
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<DL>
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<DT><STRONG>man man</STRONG></DT>
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<DD>This tells you how to use the online manual.
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</DD>
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<DT><STRONG>man 1 intro</STRONG></DT>
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<DD>This tells you about the general section
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of the online manual. You should also try ``<TT>man 2
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intro</TT>'' & all the other intros for sections 3 through
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9.
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</DD>
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<DT><STRONG>man mutt</STRONG></DT>
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<DD>Tells you how to use <EM>mutt</EM>, the e-mail
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reader.
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</DD>
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<DT><STRONG>man pine</STRONG></DT>
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<DD>Tells you how to use <EM>pine</EM>, the e-mail
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reader.
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</DD>
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<DT><STRONG>man sh</STRONG></DT>
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<DD>Tells you how to use & program the shell.
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</DD>
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<DT><STRONG>man 4 tcp</STRONG></DT>
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<DD>Tells you how to program TCP sockets. I
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suggest it here as an example of the breadth of
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information that's available in the online manual.
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</DD>
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</DL>
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<P>
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<H2><A NAME="SECTION00611000000000000000">
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5.1.1 The man is for real</A>
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</H2>
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<P>
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I tell newbies about the man all the time, but they usually don't
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try it.
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<P>
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I don't know why they don't believe me. I started
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using unix in college in 1985. In a class, the professor
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gave everyone an account & told us to login after class &
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type ``<TT>man man</TT>''. He didn't tell us anything else,
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not even what ``man man'' would do. By exploring the manual
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on my own time for a couple of evenings, plus a couple of
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conversations with the unix gurus that worked in the lab, I
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was pretty good with unix. It was an excellent way to start
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using & programming unix.
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<P>
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Maybe the newbies do believe me, but they're lazy.
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<P>
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<H1><A NAME="SECTION00620000000000000000">
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5.2 Gnu info</A>
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</H1>
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<P>
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Besides the unix <EM>man</EM>, Gnu/Linux computers usually have
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some information in a hypertext system call <EM>info</EM>.
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<P>
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To use <EM>info</EM> from the command line, just type ``<TT>info</TT>''. If you are a Gnu Emacs user, you can run emacs &
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type Meta-x <TT>info</TT>, & you'll be presented with the same
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data in the same format that <EM>info</EM> would.
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<P>
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<EM>Info</EM> is an interactive hypertext system. It predates
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the Web by at least five years, methinks. Read & follow
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the instructions on the screen & you'll be alright.
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<P>
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<EM>Info</EM> systems are not always maintained as well as the
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man, but most are pretty good, & some have a lot of
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excellent information. It is often well-written, too. It's
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an enjoyable read, & since you can page through the entire
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system one screen-full at a time by typing the Space bar,
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it's convenient to read.
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<P>
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Though it's not for beginning users, I'll mention here that
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one of my favorite sections in <EM>info</EM> is the
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documentation for Autoconf.
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<P>
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<H1><A NAME="SECTION00630000000000000000">
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5.3 Books</A>
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</H1>
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<P>
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I can't recommend any books on using unix. I learned it so
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long ago that I don't remember what books I used, or even if
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I used any books. Here are some interesting books about
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unix, though not exactly about <EM>using</EM> unix.
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<P>
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I like Mike Gancarz's book, <EM>The Unix Philosophy</EM>, a
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lot. It talks about the reasons behind writing applications
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the unix way: with small programs piped together, & with
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flat, plain text data files. I have heard that
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Eric Raymond's book, <EM>The Art of UNIX Programming</EM>,
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is similar & also good, but I haven't read it
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myself.<A NAME="tex2html13"
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HREF="footnode.html#foot277"><SUP>5.1</SUP></A>
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<P>
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Even though we're talking about using unix, I think an
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understanding of how operating systems work is useful to
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know, & Andrew S. Tanenbaum's <EM>Modern Operating
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Systems</EM> is an excellent book. It includes a good
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section about unix. He points out that the defining
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characteristic about early unix was its 40 system
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calls. We've added more system calls, but the unix kernel
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still has a fairly small number of elegant, well-chosen
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system calls. That's an important part of what makes unix
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what it is.
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<P>
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<H1><A NAME="SECTION00640000000000000000">
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5.4 Folklore</A>
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</H1>
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<P>
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One of the cool things about unix is that it has played an
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intimate part in the folklore of computing since the late
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1970s. There are all sorts of interesting tales &
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personalities to explain or help you remember why something
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was done a particular way. The history is not hidden inside
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a corporation. It's out in the open, & lots of people know it.
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<P>
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That's also one of the bad things about unix because it
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means you need to talk to people to learn what you need to
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learn next. Hopefully people will write downt he folklore
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& also link to it so that new unix users & programmers can
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find it.
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<P>
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You can learn the folklore by talking (or typing) to an
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experienced unix user or programmer. A good place to read
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about it online is <A NAME="tex2html14"
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HREF="http://catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/">The Jargon
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File</A>.
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<P>
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<HR>
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<B> Next:</B> <A NAME="tex2html220"
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HREF="node7.html">6. Super Dimension Fortress</A>
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<B> Up:</B> <A NAME="tex2html216"
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HREF="unx.html">Introduction to Unix &</A>
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<B> Previous:</B> <A NAME="tex2html210"
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HREF="node5.html">4. Some Basic Commands</A>
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  <B> <A NAME="tex2html218"
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HREF="node1.html">Contents</A></B>
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<ADDRESS>
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Gene Michael Stover
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2005-07-07
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