Unlike her peers in that 40-something bracket, Margaret Levine Young was exposed to computers at an early age.
In high school, she got into a computer club known as the R.E.S.I.S.T.O.R.S., a group of kids who spent Saturdays
in a barn fooling around with three antiquated computers. She stayed in the field through college against her better
judgment and despite her brother John's presence as a graduate student in the computer science department. Margy
graduated from Yale and went on to become one of the first microcomputer managers in the early 1980s at Columbia
Pictures, where she rode the elevator with big stars whose names she wouldn't dream of dropping here.
Since then, Margy (www.gurus.com/margy) has coauthored more than 20 computer books about the topics of the Internet,
UNIX, WordPerfect, Microsoft Access, and (stab from the past) PC-File and Javelin, including The Internet For Dummies,
6th Edition, and WordPerfect 7 For Windows 95 For Dummies (all from IDG Books Worldwide, Inc.). She loves her husband,
Jordan; her kids, Meg and Zac; gardening; chickens; reading; and anything to do with eating. Margy and her husband
also run Great Tapes for Kids (www.greattapes.com) from their home in the middle of a cornfield near Middlebury,
Vermont.
Levine, John R. :
John R. Levine was a member of the same computer club Margy was in -- before high school students, or even high
schools, had computers. He wrote his first program in 1967 on an IBM 1130 (a computer almost as fast as your modern
digital wristwatch, only more difficult to use). He became an official system administrator of a networked computer
at Yale in 1975 and has been working in the computer and network biz since 1977. He got his company on to Usenet
(see Part IV) early enough that it appears in a 1982 Byte magazine article in a map of Usenet, which then was so
small that the map fit on half a page.
He used to spend most of his time writing software, although now he mostly writes books (including UNIX For
Dummies® and Internet Secrets, both from IDG Books Worldwide, Inc.) because it's more fun and he can do so
at home in the hamlet of Trumansburg, New York.
Sample Chapter
Part V
Sending and Receiving Electronic Mail
Every UNIX system comes with some sort of mail system. At worst, you have a primitive mail program and can send
mail only to other users on your machine. At best, you use a much better mail program (probably elm or Pine) and
can send mail to anyone on the Internet.
In this part...
Using elm, a popular screen-based mail program
Using Mail, the basic mail program that comes with most UNIX systems
Using Pine, an easy-to-use, full-featured mail program
For each program, we show you how to send, read, and save mail.
Addressing Your Mail
When you address your mail, you enter the mail address of the person to whom you want to send mail.
Every user has a mail address, usually the same as the user (login) name. If your computer is attached to a network,
your mail address is your username, an at sign (@), and the name of your computer -- betsy@marketing, for example.
System administrators can set up other mail addresses for mailing lists, remote users, and other purposes.
Some systems that run the ancient uucp network software use an exclamation point in place of the @, as in marketing!betsy.
elm
To run the program, type elm at the shell prompt. You see the message index, a nice listing of your messages with
one message per line. At the bottom of the screen is a list of the elm commands you can use.
See also UNIX® For Dummies®, 4th Edition, Chapter 17, and MORE UNIX® For Dummies®, Chapter 18.
Sending a message
Type elm.
Press m.
elm asks whom to send the message to. Type a mail address.
elm prompts you for the message subject. Enter one.
elm may ask for addresses to which you want to send copies of the message. Type the names if you want to include
any. (Type your own username if you want to keep a copy for yourself.) Just press Enter or Return if you don't
want to send any copies.
elm runs a text editor, usually vi. Type your message.
After completing your message, give the commands to save the completed message and exit the editor. In vi, type
ZZ or :x. In emacs, press Ctrl+X, Ctrl+S, Ctrl+X, Ctrl+C.
elm asks something like this:
s)end,or f)orget.
You have the choice of pressing s to send the message, h to edit the header lines, e to go back and edit the message
some more, c to copy a file into the message, ! to run a shell command, or f to forget it and throw away the message.
To send the message, press s. elm sends the message and displays the list of messages in your mailbox again.
If you would rather use emacs or pico than vi as your text editor, ask your system administrator to set up elm
to run that editor or see the section "Changing your elm options" later in this part.
Reading your messages
Type elm at the shell prompt. You see the message index.
Press the cursor keys to move the cursor to the message you want. If the message is off the bottom of the screen
(because you have more messages than can fit, you popular person), press the spacebar to see each subsequent screen
of messages or use the cursor keys to scroll through the list. If your cursor keys don't work, press j to move
forward and k to move backward.
Press Enter to view the message. If the message is too long to fit on-screen, press the spacebar to see more of
it.
After you finish reading the message, decide whether you want to keep it. Press d to delete the message and go
on to the next one. To keep it, press the up- or down-arrow key (or j and k) to go to preceding or subsequent messages
without deleting anything.
To stop reading messages, press i to return to the message index.
Printing a message
This task prints a message on a printer connected to the UNIX system. If you dial in from a PC, this process won't
do what you want -- instead, you have to save the message to a file, download the file, and then print the downloaded
file.
Type elm. You see the message index.
Press the cursor keys (or j and k) to select the message you want to print.
Press p. The message is printed.
Saving a message
You can use elm to store messages in a text file for later perusing, editing, printing, or other uses.
Type elm. You see the message index.
Press the cursor keys (or j and k) to select the message you want to save.
Press s.
Type the name of the file in which to save the message or press Enter to accept elm's suggested filename (usually
the name of the sender).
Your mailbox usually resides in a subdirectory of your home directory called Mail. If you precede a filename with
an equal sign, such as =loveletters, elm puts the file in your Mail directory. You can save multiple messages into
one file; elm just adds the new messages to the end of the file.
Exiting the program
To quit elm and save any changes you made to your mailbox, such as deleting messages:
Press q.
elm asks whether you want to save the messages you've already read. Press y or Enter to save them in a file named
received, or press n to leave them in your mailbox. Either way, your messages are saved in one place or the other.
To quit elm without saving changes to your mailbox:
Press x.
If you made changes, elm asks whether you really want to exit without saving them.
Press y to exit without saving or n if you change your mind.
Changing your elm options
You can customize elm so that it uses the editor you like, displays messages in the order you want, and does other
things. To customize, follow these steps:
Type elm. You see the message index.
To see your elm options, press o. elm displays a list of its options, along with your setting for each one. You
should leave most of these settings alone so that you don't break elm.
To use a different editor for composing messages, press e. Your cursor jumps to the name of the editor that elm
currently runs when you want to send a message. Edit this program name and press Enter. Notice that it is a full
pathname; ask your system administrator to tell you the full pathname of the editor you want to use. Then press
Enter.
To change the order in which messages are displayed in the message index, press s. Then press the spacebar repeatedly
until you see the ordering you want. Press r to switch between forward and reverse orders. (Our favorite is Date
Mail Sent, sorting from least recent to most recent.) Then press Enter.
To change other settings, press the letter that appears in front of the parenthesis at the beginning of its line.
Make the change and then press Enter.
When you finish messing around with the options, type > to save your changes. If you think that you may have
made a mistake, skip this step.
To return to your elm message index, press i.
Getting help
To see online help in elm, type ?. Typing another question mark displays a list of all the commands.
Command line options
elm [-f file] [-h] [-s subject] -v [recipients] Option or Argument
Function
-f file
Reads mail from file rather than from your usual mailbox.
-h
Displays help about the elm program.
-s subject
Sets the subject when sending mail (applies only if you also specify a recipient for sending mail without first
seeing the message index).
-v
Reports elm's version number.
recipients
Sets the name(s) of the recipient(s) when you're sending mail. This option is for sending mail without first seeing
the message index.
Mail
Mail is the basic mail program that comes with all UNIX systems. It may be named mail, or it may be called mailx
or Mail. You use the same program with different arguments to send and receive mail.
If your system has mailx or Mail, there may be another, even older mail program that you don't want to use.
In our examples, we use the Mail (uppercase M) program; substitute mail (lowercase m) or mailx if you use either
of those programs.
Sending a message
Run your mail program and give it the name(s) of the mail recipients, like this:
Mail [email protected]
Depending on how the mail program is configured, it may prompt you for a subject line. If so, type one:
Subject: Hound dogs
If it doesn't ask for a subject and you want to provide one, type ~s followed by the subject:
~sHound dogs
Type your message.
When you're finished entering the text of the message, type a period on a line by itself. The mail program responds
with EOT. (Some ancient versions don't understand the period; for them, press Ctrl+D.) UNIX sends the message.
While you're sending mail, the editing commands in the following table are available. You start each command with
a tilde (~) on a new, blank line. Command
What It Does
~b name
Adds a name to the blind carbon copy list.
~c name
Adds a name to the carbon copy list.
~e
Runs a text editor (usually vi) to edit the message.
~f
Forwards the current message from the mailbox to someone else.
~p
Prints (displays on-screen) the message so far.
~q
Quits and abandons this message.
~r file
Reads in the contents of file.
~s subject
Sets the message subject.
~c name
Adds name to the list of recipients.
~v
Visual edit: Runs the vi editor so that you can edit the message.
~w file
Writes the current message to a file.
~.
Ends the message and delivers it.
If you want to save a copy of a message you're sending, include your own username in the blind carbon copy list
by using the ~b command.
Reading your messages
Run your mail program by typing Mail, mail, or mailx. The mail program shows you your new messages followed by
a question-mark prompt, like this:
mailx version 3.1 Type ? for help. "/usr/mail/johnl": 21 messages 1 new >N 21 elvis Thu Dec 16 15:59 17/361
Club date ?
To read each new message, press Enter. If a message is more than one page long, press the spacebar or Return to
move through the message.
After reading a message, decide whether you want to save it. At the ? prompt, press d to delete it or type dp to
delete it and display the next message. To keep the message and display the next, press Enter.
Forwarding a message
To send a copy of an incoming message to a third party:
After you read a message, press m to tell the program that you want to create a new message.
Immediately after the m, type the address to which you want to forward the message.
Enter an appropriate subject when asked.
Type ~m on a separate line to insert the original message into the mail you're sending.
Enter more text if you want to and then type a period on a separate line or press Ctrl+D to finish.
Printing a message
The Mail program doesn't have a built-in printing command, but you can tell it to send the message to the standard
printing program. Within the Mail program on BSD UNIX systems, type this line:
| lpr
(That's a vertical bar, a space, and the lpr command.)
On UNIX System V, type this line:
| lp
Saving a message
With Mail, you can store messages in a text file for later perusing, editing, printing, or other uses. To save
a message, follow these steps:
Run your mail program. It shows you your new messages.
Select the message you want either by pressing Enter until the message you want appears or by typing the message
number and then pressing Enter.
Type s, a space, and the name of the file in which to save the message.
You can save as many messages as you want in a single file. That file can be treated as a mailbox; use Mail -f
filename to tell Mail to read its contents.
Exiting the mail program
Press q to quit and save changes to your mailbox.
Press x to exit and discard changes to your mailbox.
Command line options
Mail [-f file] [-N] [-H] [-s subject] [recipients] Option or Argument
Function
-f file
Reads your mail from the mailbox file you specify.
-N
Doesn't list message headers when it starts.
-H
Lists only the messages headers and then exits.
-s subject
Sets the subject when sending mail.
recipients
Sets the name(s) of the recipient(s) when you're sending mail.
Pine
Pine is an easy-to-use menu-driven mail program. It uses folders to store incoming mail and addresses. It also
lets you send attachments, which are nontext files, such as graphics files or spreadsheets.
To start Pine, type pine at the shell prompt. You see the Main menu. At the bottom of the screen is a list of Pine
commands you can use. Command
What It Does
?
Shows the help screen.
c
Composes and sends a message.
i
Displays messages in the current folder.
l
Selects a folder to view.
a
Creates or modifies address books.
s
Accesses setup options.
q
Quits Pine.
o
Shows all other available commands.
p
Selects the preceding item displayed on the menu.
n
Selects the next item displayed on the menu.
r
Displays release notes, which contain information for using Pine.
k
Locks the keyboard, preventing others from accessing it when you are not at your computer.
g
Goes to a specified folder.
See also Chapter 17 of UNIX For Dummies, 4th Edition, and Chapter 18 of MORE UNIX For Dummies.
Sending a message
Type pine at the shell prompt.
Press c (for compose) to display the Compose Message screen.
In the Address field, type a mail address and press Enter. You can type several names if desired, with a comma
separating them.
In the Cc: field, enter the addresses of other people you want to receive the message. Press Enter.
The Attachment field lets you send a file that is not a text file (such as a graphics file or word processing document).
Enter the pathname of the file here (if the file is in your home directory, you can just type the filename) or
press Ctrl+T to select from a menu of your files. Then press Enter.
In the Subject field, briefly describe the message and press Enter.
Type your message. Pine uses the pico editor described in Part IV. If you want to send a file that you previously
wrote, press Ctrl+R to read in a file. Enter the pathname of the file here (if the file is in your home directory,
you can just type the filename) or press Ctrl+T to select from a menu of your files.
To send your message, press Ctrl+X.
Pine asks:
Send message?
Press y (for yes) or Enter. The message is sent, and a copy of it is saved in the sent mail folder.
Reading your messages
New messages are stored in the INBOX folder. To read them:
Type pine at the shell prompt. The Main menu appears.
At the Main menu, press i (for index). A list of mail messages appears.
Use the arrow keys to highlight the message you want to view or press p or n to move up or down a message. Press
v (for view) or Enter to read a selected message.
To return to the index, press i again.
The left side of the INBOX screen shows the status of the messages as follows: n
The message is new.
+
The message was sent directly to you (as opposed to coming via a mailing list or a Cc: of a message to someone
else).
d
You have read the message and marked it for deletion.
a
You responded to this message by using the Reply feature.
Replying to a message
To reply to a message you are reading, follow these steps:
Press r (for reply).
You are asked whether you want to include the original message in your reply. Also, if the original message was
sent to more than one person, you are asked whether you want to reply to all recipients.
Enter the text of your message.
To send your message, press Ctrl+X.
Pine asks:
Send message?
Press y (for yes) or Enter.
Forwarding a message
To forward a message that you have selected at the Index screen or that you are viewing, follow these steps:
Press f (for forward). A copy of the message opens and the To: field is highlighted.
Enter the address of your recipient and send the message as usual. Note that you can modify the original message
if you wish.
Printing a message
To print messages from either the Folder Index screen or the View Message screen, press y.
The first time you print, you may have to adjust your Pine configuration to get printing to work. Pine provides
three options for printing. Do not change these settings if you can print successfully.
To choose the printing method that Pine uses, follow these steps:
At the Pine Main menu, press s (for setup).
Press p (for printer).
Pine displays three options:
PC and Macintosh printing
UNIX printing
A custom print command
Enter 1, 2, or 3 to select one of the three printing methods. You may be required to enter a command that will
be used to access the printer.
Saving a message
Pine provides three storage places for messages:
The INBOX folder stores new messages sent to you.
The saved messages folder stores copies of saved messages.
The sent mail folder automatically copies and stores messages you send.
You can also create your own folders based on subject matter or name of correspondent. To create a new folder,
follow these steps:
At the Main menu, press i (for index).
At the INBOX screen, press l (for list folders).
At the Folders List, press a (for add).
Enter the name of the new folder and press Enter.
When you save a message, you can store it in the saved messages folder, or you can specify another folder:
On the Index menu, use the arrow keys or press p or n to highlight the message you want to save.
Press s (for save) to save the message. You can also press e (for export) to save the message to a file in your
home directory.
If you press s, you're asked whether you want to save the message to the saved messages folder, which is the default.
If you want to save the message to the default folder, press Enter. If you'd rather save the message to another
folder, enter the name of the folder and then press Enter.
Once you save a message, the message in the INBOX folder is automatically marked for deletion. When you quit Pine,
you're asked whether you want to permanently delete the message from the INBOX folder.
Deleting a message
Pine lets you delete and undelete messages. To mark for deletion a message that you don't want, follow these steps:
On the Folder Index screen, use the arrow keys or press p or n to highlight the message you want to delete.
Press d (for delete).
If you change your mind about a message that you have marked for deletion, press u (for undelete) to restore the
message.
A message that is marked for deletion will not be deleted until you "expunge" it, or permanently delete
it. To expunge deleted messages, follow these steps:
On the Folder Index screen, press x (for expunge).
Pine asks:
Expunge message(s)"?
Press y or the Enter key.
Adding an address to an address book
Pine lets you store the addresses of individuals or groups that you can then easily retrieve when you write new
messages:
At the Pine Main menu, press a (for address book).
To add a single address, press a (for add).
Enter the name, nickname, and e-mail address(es) when Pine prompts you to do so.
By entering a short nickname, you can just type the nickname when you write a message. Pine automatically retrieves
the full address.
Retrieving an address from an address book
When addressing mail, you can retrieve e-mail addresses stored in an address book. In the To: or Cc: of the message
header, follow these steps:
Press Ctrl+T.
Press the P or N keys or arrow keys to highlight the address you want to use.
Press s (for select) or Enter.
Exiting the program
To quit Pine, follow these steps:
At almost any place in Pine, press q (for quit).
Pine asks:
Really quit pine?
Press y or Enter to quit.
Changing options
You can customize Pine options, such as printer, name and location of folders, and other things. In general, don't
change these options unless you need to. Here's how to customize:
Type pine. The Main menu appears.
Press s (for setup). Pine displays four options:
Printer: Chooses a printer.
Newpassword: Changes your account password.
Config: Modifies such things as pathnames to mail folders and address books. You can also change your name as it
appears in messages.
Update: Provide information about updates to Pine.
Press p, n, c, or u to select the desired screen.
Use the arrows keys or press p or n to highlight the option you want to change.
To modify a setting, press c (for change), a (for add, and enter a new value), or x (for set/unset).
To return to the Pine Main menu, press e.
Getting help
To view the help screen, use the Help command at the bottom of each screen. It's usually ? or Ctrl+G, depending
on the screen.
Sending Mail Using Other Mail Programs
If you are using X Windows and want a mail program with lots of buttons and icons, many other programs allow you
to perform most mailing operations with mouse clicks. Check with your system administrator to see which of these,
if any, are installed on your system. (Netscape, which is a ubiquitous browser on UNIX systems, comes with an X-based
mailer, too. Its mail program on UNIX works just like it does on Windows or a Mac. See The Internet For Dummies®
Quick Reference, 4th Edition.)
Details vary, but the steps are generally similar to those outlined for the three programs described in this part.
Tell the program that you want to send a message.
Give the address to send the message to.
Enter the message and subject.
Tell the program that you're done composing the message.
Summary
Get instant access to the UNIX commands and functions you need with this fast and friendly reference guide to
all things UNIX. UNIX For Dummies Quick Reference, 4th Edition, clues you in to the most popular and essential
parts of UNIX: X Windows managers, text editors, sending and receiving electronic mail, and networking.
Starting with the UNIX shell and moving steadily deeper inside the UNIX environment, UNIX For Dummies Quick Reference,
4th Edition, cuts to the chase with clear, concise answers to all your UNIX questions. From the basics of entering
commands, organizing files and directories, and determining which shell you're using, this valuable little reference
book steers you in the right direction. More than 100 basic UNIX commands are alphabetically sorted for easy lookups,
and advanced topics on X Windows managers, text editors, and online components are all just a few pages away.
Why bother with the hassles of sorting through thousands of pages of text when the answers you need are all right
here, tucked inside a lay-flat binding that lets you keep your book open to the page you're reading. Could using
a UNIX reference be any easier?
Table of Contents
Introduction: How to Use This Book
What's in This Book
Conventions Used in This Book
The Cast of Icons
Write to Us!
Part I: Commanding UNIX Using the Shell
Directories
Environment Variables
Filenames
Help with Commands
Identifying Your Shell
Pathnames
Quoting Characters on the Command Line
Redirecting with Pipes and Filters
Shell Prompts
Special Characters and What They Do
Startup Files
Typing Commands
Wildcards
Part II: UNIX Commands
alias
at
awk
bash
bc
bg
cal
calendar
cancel
cat
cd
chgrp
chmod
chown
clear
cmp
compress
cp
cpio
crontab
csh
date
df
diff
diff3
dircmp
du
echo
ed
elm
emacs
env
ex
exit
fg
file
find
finger
ftp
grep
gunzip
gzip
head
help
history
id
irc
jobs
kill
ksh
ln
lp
lpq
lpr
lprm
lpstat
ls
lynx
mail
man
mesg
mkdir
more
mv
nice
nn
pack
passwd
pico
pine
pr
ps
pwd
rcp
red
rehash
rlogin
rm
rmdir
rn
rsh
script
sdiff
sed
set
setenv
sh
sleep
sort
spell
stty
tail
talk
tar
tee
telnet
time
tin
touch
trn
troff
tty
umask
unalias
uname
uncompress
uniq
unpack
uucp
uudecode
uuencode
vacation
vi
wall
wc
who
write
zcat
Part III: Using X Window Managers
Anatomy of a Window
Changing the Window Size
Exiting the Window Manager
Keyboard Shortcuts
Motif
FVWM
Maximizing a Window
Minimizing (Iconifying) a Window
Moving a Window
Opening a Window in an Obsolete but Easy Way
Opening Windows in a User-Friendly Way
Restoring a Window
Restoring a Window from an Icon
Selecting Several Things with Your Mouse
Switching Windows
The Window Menu
Working with the Common Desktop Environment (CDE)
CDE Applications
CDE Windows
The Front Panel
Front Panel Subpanels
Part IV: Using Text Editors
Using the ed Text Editor
Starting ed
Getting out of ed
ed commands
Using the emacs Text Editor
Starting emacs
Getting out of emacs
emacs commands
emacs commands for editing multiple files
Using the pico Text Editor
Starting pico
Getting out of pico
pico commands
Using the vi Text Editor
Starting vi
Getting out of vi
vi commands
vi commands in input mode
Part V: Sending and Receiving Electronic Mail
Addressing Your Mail
elm
Sending a message
Reading your messages
Printing a message
Saving a message
Exiting the program
Changing your elm options
Getting help
Command line options
Mail
Sending a message
Reading your messages
Forwarding a message
Printing a message
Saving a message
Exiting the mail program
Command line options
Pine
Sending a message
Reading your messages
Replying to a message
Forwarding a message
Printing a message
Saving a message
Deleting a message
Adding an address to an address book
Retrieving an address from an address book
Exiting the program
Changing options
Getting help
Sending Mail Using Other Mail Programs
Part VI: Connecting to Other Computers
FTP
Connecting to a remote system
Connecting by using anonymous FTP
Quitting FTP
Listing the files in a directory
Moving to other directories
Retrieving files
Retrieving groups of files
Decompressing files that you have retrieved
Downloading retrieved files to your PC
Sending files to a remote system using FTP
Summary of FTP commands
IRC: Chatting with Others on the Net
Starting IRC
Finding IRC channels
Joining an IRC channel
Quitting IRC
Getting help with IRC commands
Chatting by using IRC commands
Summary of IRC commands
Having an IRC private conversation
rcp
Copying files from a remote computer
Copying all the files in a directory
rlogin and rsh
Connecting to a remote computer
Disconnecting from a remote computer
Running commands on a remote computer by using rsh
Logging in automatically by using rlogin and rsh
telnet
Connecting to a remote computer
Disconnecting from a remote computer
Part VII: Finding Resources on the Net
Internet Explorer
Lynx
Going directly to a page
Going back to a previous page
Searching within Web pages
Key summary
Netscape
Starting up
Going to a new page
Going back to a previous page
Finding places to go in Netscape
Printing a page
Saving a file
Freeing disk space
Quitting Netscape
Resource Indexes
Part VIII: Usenet Newsgroups
Netiquette: Avoiding Getting Flamed
Reading Usenet Newgroups with trn
Starting your newsreader
Changing the order in which newsgroups appear
Choosing which new newsgroups to subscribe to
Dealing with rot-13 articles
Dealing with shar files
Dealing with uuencoded files
Exiting the newsreader
Finding articles on specific topics
Finding a newsgroup
Getting help
Posting a new article
Reading articles
Replying to and following up an article
Sending an e-mail reply
Posting a news follow-up
Saving an article
Selecting newsgroups to read
Selecting the threads that you want to read
Skipping over a newsgroup
Skipping an uninteresting or offensive article
Skipping unread articles
Unsubscribing to a newsgroup
Understanding Newsgroup Names
