Conventions used in this FAQ

Since most of these questions deal with UNIX commands, anything you should type on the command line will look like this:

% some-command with-its-arguments

NOTE: Do NOT type the '%' unless stated otherwise.

As far as the arguments to a command are concerned, anything surrounded in angle brackets (< and >) is required parameters. Similarly, anything surrounded in square brackets ([and]) is an optional parameter.

Any time you see a caret (^) directly followed by another character, that means to simultaneously depress the control key and that character's key. For example, ^C means to simultaneously depress the control key and the 'C' key. In GNU documentation (especially in Emacs help), this is denoted by C-, but they mean the same thing.

How do I print?

If you would like to have a hardcopy of something, first off, be sure you have a recycling bin in which the paper will end up. Secondly, please don't send huge jobs to the printer as that stuffs up the queue and makes everyone unhappy. The actual command is as follows:

% lp -d <destination printer> <file>

Example: % lp -d decster computer_history.ps
Printers are located as follows:
laser327a - Room 327
laser327b - Room 327
laser328a - Room 328
laser329a - Room 329
laser329b - Room 329

If you have questions regarding printers, consult a friendly CS Systems Support Team member in room 318.

How do I cancel this print job?

So that seemingly innocent print job turned out to be two hundred pages or so, huh? Fear not, the command to save you is as follows:

% cancel <job-id>

Example:
server% lp -d laser entp.txt
request id is laser-153 (1 file(s))
server% cancel laser-153
request "laser-153" cancelled

How do I change my password?

To change your password, give this a shot:

% passwd

What exactly is a shell?

A shell is basically a medium between you and UNIX. A shell also doubles as an interpreted language for a powerful tool known as shell scripting, on which there are many good books. The default shell in the CS Department is bash. It's really cool, and the best description of it comes from its man page. Type

<% man bash

for a complete synopsis.

Can I change my shell?

Most definitely, just type in the type of shell you want to use. Observe:

% tcsh

And to exit out of that shell:

% exit

One little caveat: there's a file called /etc/shells. This file lists all allowable login shells for a user. If you get some nifty keen shell that you'd like to be your login shell, you'll have to get it approved with the local SysAdmin.

Why can't I change my full name (GCOS)?

Since this is a University maintained site, we only allow the name of the Actual person using the account. If you do not like that people can identify your sex, we will use your initials for your first (and/or middle) name if you so choose. Just send mail to support, and we will fix you up.

What's the deal with web (WWW) pages?

Here is the procedure you should follow to have your very own web pages:
Read the info on Creating Web Page Docs
Make a directory off your home directory called 'public_html'.
In that directory, edit a file called 'index.html'. That will become your home page.
Send mail to webmaster requesting that you be added to the list of CS home pages.

IRC -- friend or foe?

Officially, the CS Dept does not support the use of the IRC (Internet Relay Chat). The use of the IRC has been abused for years and caused direct problems for the CS Dept. As a result, we ask that students avoid it.

How can I be down with TeX and LaTeX?

As a start, look in /home/thinke/Latex-sample/, and check out the sample LaTeX paper and README's in there.

Why do people look at me funny when I turn off a machine?

As with most UNIX workstations, the machines in room 328 are not to be turned off for any reason. Doing so could result in data loss and possible hardware problems. In other words, please do not turn the computers off under any circumstances. If you need a workstation rebooted, or if you seem to be locked up, just find one of the Systems Support Team members.

What's this file called "core" in my directory?

Back in the good ol' days, RAM was made out of magnetized iron rings called cores. The hackers of the day referred to copying the contents of memory to disk "dumping core". Basically, core contains an image of some poor processes' address space that caught a signal telling it to dump core, most likely SIGSEGV (segmentation violation) or SIGBUS (bus error). These core files can be quite useful when debugging code; otherwise, they just zap your quota. The only way you will have problems with core files in your directories is if you set the limit command. If you do have a core dump, you can find out what process dumped it by typing:

% file core
core: ELF 32-bit MSB core file SPARC Version 1, from 'ttymon'

Unless you really need a coredump around, go ahead and get rid of it like this:

% rm core