Some of my favorite things about linux…
Seriously the command line does it for me, gets me all hot and bothered ;). I just love having all the tools (including the shell itself) to be able to do what I need to do. Let me not even get started on awk and grep, though I think shortly I will write a *my top 5* command line tools or tools that a sysadmin should not live without (as I mainly handle backups this will differ greatly on both experience and preference so your mileage / kilomeratage may vary accordingly).
Ok so here are my top ten five {I can count really} favorite tools {right now}:
1. Bash shell - a very powerful tool with lots and lots {read metric assloads} of tools builtin.
2. vi - yes I am a vi whore, even to the point of using it on the command line, those who know what I mean either will shudder or clap, to each their own. **HINT** if you still use the arrow keys learn the j = down, k = up, h = right and l = left. Also check out shift + v and ctrl + v (visual mode). Oh and I also use vimperator with firefox, cause I just wuv it that much.
3. awk, because the nature of my job {backups/archives} and the reporting there of, I need strong text processing tools and awk happens to be one of my favs.
4. screen - one of the seniors that I worked with {he’s left since} taught me how to use screen, and it’s a tool no sysadmin should ever be without {if it can be helped}.
5. grep - this is one of the most rockingest tools ever greated, simple in design, powerful in function, can make a sysadmins job bearable. {along with regexps ;)}
I’ll write more later on, but this is a good start.
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Ok, try to stay calm. We know you can get through this. The first thing you need to do is close all Terminal Windows (try using that phrase instead of Bash Shell). No, no. Not that way. Just click the ‘X’ in the upper right-hand corner of the window, typing ‘exit’ it too formal. That’s a good start. Now open your home directory by clicking on the house icon in the upper left hand corner of your now terminal-window-free desktop. Notice all the pretty colors and cute icons. Place your mouse pointer on one of the corners of your home directory’s window. See the pointer change to a double ended arrow? Great, now with your left mouse button depressed, move your mouse and inch or so. Pretty amazing isn’t it? I know you must be getting a little tired from all this so I’ll just show you one more thing. In your home directory window move the slider on the bottom of the window until you can see the “Modified” column. Now click on the header of that column a few times… How’s that for wicked cool? It’s advisable to not over do it at first but slowly increase your stay in these forays into GUI land. A helpful technique that is known to work well for those suffering from terminal terminalitis it to breath in slowly but strongly through your nose and exhale out your mouth in a similar fashion. Do this about four times or until the urge to open a terminal window subsides.
I hope this helps. It’s sad to see someone fall prey to this all-consuming condition. :-)