Learning UNIX (on your Icarus or Tigger account)

Tigger and Icarus are two of the Computer Center's UNIX computers on which UIC faculty, staff, and students have accounts. UNIX is the name of the operating system, and it -- like other operating systems, such as DOS, Windows, and MacOS -- allows users to interact with the computer.

These documents are meant to provide you with a very brief introduction to basic UNIX commands, as well as to introduce you to email at UIC and to pico (a UNIX file editor). It is also intended to provide you with information on obtaining more resources so that you may continue to learn on your own. Before you start, however, you need to be aware of a few things:

Protecting your Account

Your Tigger or Icarus account is for use ONLY by you. Allowing other people to access your account in any way constitutes a violation of Computer Center policy. You should be sure to read the entire policy at http://www.accc.uic.edu/policies/. To keep your account secure, keep in mind the following two guidelines:
  1. Change your password often

    2. To keep people from gaining access to your account, you should change your password frequently. It is possible for computer hackers to figure out your password through various means; changing it often will help dissuade them from trying. Change your password by typing passwd at the prompt after logging in. When you issue the command, you will be prompted for your OLD password first, then your new one (twice). You should try not to choose passwords that could be easily guessed.
  2. Always Log Off

    3. ALWAYS log off your account when you are finished; otherwise anyone who finds it logged on can use it and send email in your name or cause other damage to your account. To log out of your account, type the word exit at the prompt.

UNIX is Case-sensitive

All UNIX commands are case sensitive, which means it matters whether you type lower-case letters or upper-case letters. Most UNIX commands are in all lower-case.

More Help from Other On-line Resources

Internet Documents: In addition to the documents provided here, this is a short list of other useful documents you can find on the Internet concerning UNIX.
 
See the documents you are now reading on-line: http://www.accc.uic.edu/unix/docs/
ACCC Main Page: http://www.accc.uic.edu/
More on using Pine: http://www.accc.uic.edu/software/pine/
Schedule of Computer Center Public UNIX seminars: http://www.accc.uic.edu/seminars/
How to create and publish a Web page at UIC: http://www.accc.uic.edu/webpub/
Printing from your UNIX account: http://www.accc.uic.edu/software/unixapps/unixprt.html
More UNIX Commands: http://www.accc.uic.edu/software/unixapps/moreunix.html
Everything about your UNIX disk space: http://www.accc.uic.edu/software/unixapps/spacepol.html