title
Knowledge Base

Linux Knowledgebase

This is a list of quickstart guides for Linux programs, designed to get the user up and running as fast as possible.

Style

Praxis Only

We leave theory alone as much as possible. The documentation should be of the form 'if you want X, type Y'.

We don't need to explain what a program does - anyone looking up 'how to X', already knows what they want to do. We don't even need to explain which program to use - if someone wants to combine an mp4 and webm video into a single video file, they only care about that result, not about learning ffmpeg.

Any interest in these tools only comes after we can use them.

Chronological

Entries should read like scripts - everything in the right order, with small notes on what this does.

The chronology should never branch. If gitea can use three different types of database, the documentation should simply pick one and continue instructions from there. Repetition works better than a reference - if a database requires three commands to set up, it's better to repeat those three commands for every program that requires a database than to just link to another file which discusses databases.

Closing

Introductory documents should show anything required to cleanly uninstall a program, without leaving bulky configuration files behind.

Three Input Types

There are three types of examples:

Fixed input:

ls

Anything with arbitrary input should be shown as a variable.

ls $FILE

Non-commands (e.g. output) should be shown as quoted text:

LK img Mail kn Projects music

Example

How to see which websites you're actively accessing:

` ` `bash
ss -tr dst :$PORT
` ` `   

> State  Recv-Q  Send-Q   Local Address:Port                                    Peer Address:Port   Process  
> ESTAB  0       0         192.168.0.14:42476                                 149.154.167.91:https           
> ESTAB  0       0         192.168.0.14:43644                                  104.17.90.199:https           

What's wrong with everything else?

Man pages

• Orders items by the alphabet rather than by relevance.
• Often presumes you know everything except that one program.
• Often written in the 80's, and it shows.
• Zero respect for your time.

curl cheat.sh/

• Doesn't have the programs I like.
• Too short to get you started on many programs.
• Poor understanding of priority (git stash is covered before git commit).

Current State

This started as a few personal notes, and will probably continue to look like that for some time. It's a bit of a mess.

Systemd is taken as a default. Non-systemd commands are mentioned when required for a distro, e.g. runit for Void Linux.