LinuxLecture

LinuxLecture is a beginner-friendly Linux lecture deck written with LaTeX Beamer. It introduces students to the Linux shell, basic file operations, text editing with Vim, input/output redirection, downloads and archives, Unix file permissions, process control, and basic Slurm job scheduling.

The repository includes both the editable source (linux.tex) and a generated PDF (linux.pdf) so that instructors can either present the existing slides or modify and rebuild the deck.

Table of Contents

• Audience
• Repository Contents
• Quick Start
• Build Requirements
• Lecture Outline
  • 1. Linux and Ubuntu
  • 2. Basic Linux Commands
  • 3. Editing Files with Vim
  • 4. Input and Output Redirection
  • 5. Downloading and Archives
  • 6. User Permissions
  • 7. Process Control
  • 8. Slurm Job Scheduling
• Suggested Student Workflow
• Safety Notes
• Customizing the Lecture
• License

Audience

This material is intended for first-time Linux users in a classroom, lab, or shared server environment. The examples assume that learners can open a Linux shell through one of these setups:

• Ubuntu LTS, Windows Subsystem for Linux, or another Linux desktop
• A remote Linux server reached through SSH
• A course-provided shell environment
• A terminal running bash or zsh

The commands are intentionally simple and use common tools that are available on most Linux systems.

Repository Contents

Path	Description
linux.tex	Main LaTeX Beamer source for the lecture slides.
linux.pdf	Prebuilt PDF version of the lecture.
figures/	Images and screenshots used by the slides.
LICENSE	MIT license for the repository.
README.md	This project overview and usage guide.

Quick Start

To use the lecture immediately, open linux.pdf in any PDF viewer.

To edit the lecture, modify linux.tex and rebuild the PDF:

latexmk -pdf linux.tex

If latexmk is not available, you can use pdflatex directly:

pdflatex linux.tex
pdflatex linux.tex

Running pdflatex twice helps LaTeX update cross-references and the table of contents.

Build Requirements

You need a LaTeX distribution that includes Beamer and common graphics support.

Recommended options:

• macOS: MacTeX
• Ubuntu/Debian: texlive, texlive-latex-extra, and latexmk
• Windows: TeX Live, MiKTeX, or WSL with TeX Live

On Ubuntu or Debian-based systems, a typical setup is:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install texlive texlive-latex-extra latexmk

Lecture Outline

The deck is organized as a practical introduction. Each topic starts with the reason the command matters, then shows small commands that students can type in a terminal.

1. Linux and Ubuntu

This section introduces Linux as an open source operating system family and Ubuntu as a common beginner-friendly Linux distribution. It gives students the context they need before they begin typing commands.

2. Basic Linux Commands

Students learn how to move around the filesystem and manage files:

• pwd prints the current working directory.
• ls lists files and directories.
• mkdir creates a new directory.
• cd changes the current directory.
• Tab completion helps complete commands and paths.
• man and --help provide command documentation.
• touch creates an empty file or updates a file timestamp.
• mv moves or renames files.
• cp copies files.
• rm removes files and directories.
• sudo runs commands with elevated privileges when allowed.

This part also explains important directory concepts such as the home directory, . for the current directory, and .. for the parent directory.

3. Editing Files with Vim

The editor section introduces common terminal editors and uses Vim as the main example because it is widely available on Linux servers. Students learn the basic Vim workflow:

1. Open a file with vim filename.
2. Press i to enter insert mode.
3. Edit the file.
4. Press Esc to return to normal mode.
5. Save with :w.
6. Quit with :q.

The deck also points students to vimtutor for optional practice.

4. Input and Output Redirection

This section explains how commands read input and write output:

• cat prints file contents.
• > writes output to a file and overwrites existing content.
• >> appends output to a file.
• < reads input from a file.
• 1> redirects standard output.
• 2> redirects standard error.
• more and less display longer files page by page.
• | pipes the output of one command into another command.

These ideas are important because many Linux workflows are built by connecting small commands together.

5. Downloading and Archives

Students learn two common download tools:

• curl for fetching URLs and optionally saving output with -o
• wget for downloading files directly

The section also covers compressed files and archives:

• gzip compresses or decompresses single files.
• gzip -k keeps the original file while compressing.
• tar -xzf file.tar.gz extracts a compressed tar archive.

These examples are useful for downloading lab files, source code, datasets, or course materials.

6. User Permissions

The permissions section explains how to inspect and change file permissions:

• ls -al shows file modes, owners, groups, and hidden files.
• chmod changes read, write, and execute permissions.
• Numeric permissions such as 660 and 770 are introduced.
• Symbolic forms such as chmod g=rwx file and chmod +x file are shown.
• chown changes file ownership.

This topic is especially important on shared servers, where incorrect permissions can expose private files or prevent collaborators from using shared work.

7. Process Control

Students learn how to handle long-running commands:

• Ctrl-C sends an interrupt signal to stop a foreground process.
• & starts a command in the background.
• jobs lists background jobs in the current shell.
• kill %number stops a background job by job number.
• kill PID stops a process by process ID.
• nohup keeps a command running after an SSH session disconnects.
• screen lets users detach and return to terminal sessions.

These commands help students work safely on remote servers.

8. Slurm Job Scheduling

The final section introduces Slurm for shared clusters. Students learn what a job scheduler does and how to submit, inspect, and cancel jobs:

• Write a shell script with #SBATCH resource options.
• Submit a job with sbatch.
• Choose output and error log files with --output and --error.
• Check jobs with squeue -u $USER.
• Cancel a job with scancel JOBID.
• Cancel all of a user's jobs with scancel -u $USER.

The Slurm examples are intentionally small and should be adjusted to match the policies of the cluster or classroom server where the lecture is taught.

Suggested Student Workflow

For a hands-on lab, students can create a clean practice directory before trying the examples:

mkdir -p ~/linux-lab
cd ~/linux-lab
pwd

Keeping practice files in one directory makes it easier to experiment without mixing lab files with personal files.

Safety Notes

• Read each command before pressing Enter.
• Be careful with rm; removed files may not be recoverable.
• Be careful with sudo; it can change system files or affect other users.
• On shared machines, avoid running heavy jobs directly in the login shell.
• Follow local Slurm, storage, and server policies when working on a cluster.

Customizing the Lecture

Instructors can update linux.tex to match a specific course environment. Common customizations include:

• Replacing screenshots in figures/
• Updating SSH, server, or cluster examples
• Changing Slurm resource examples such as time, CPU, memory, partition, or GPU options
• Adding local software installation instructions
• Translating explanations or adding course-specific exercises

After editing, rebuild linux.pdf and review the slides to make sure images, line breaks, and command examples still fit well.

License

This repository is released under the MIT License. See LICENSE for the full license text.