Finding Help in Unix

It should come as absolutely no surprise that products such as Microsoft Windows have built-in help systems; perhaps you have even used them. Most common computer operating systems do have detailed help systems built right into them. Unix is no different, and although it seems to have been around as long if not longer than many other operating systems, it also has as detailed a help system as any.

Unix was created without a thought to being user friendly; it was built for power, functionality, flexibility, and control. Because Unix is generally a command-line-driven system, there is commonly no mouse to point and click; therefore, the help system is not easy to find if you don't explicitly look for it or don't know where to find it. However, the joke is on us: Once you know how to use the Unix help system, you need only go to a shell prompt and type the correct command to access it. You don't need to point and click unless you are navigating in an X Window System environment.

If you know how to access the built-in help system in Unix, it can help you perform just about any command known in the system. You should be aware, however, that each version of Unix has its own version or form of help, and these forms may not be identical. For instance, SuSE Linux and Red Hat Linux have commands that do not match. This does not mean that the commands are not similar or that they will not perform the same exact function. Sun Solarisbased Unix and FreeBSD have different commands as well, but most of the core functionality is the same. Although there may be differences in the names of commands, most commands are identical by design. If you can't get a command to work, it may just mean that you are typing in the incorrect syntax for your particular system. This is another example of why you should use the system's manual pages, or man pages for short. In cases such as this, the man pages are all you need to get the help you require.

Always remember, the power of Unix is found in the commands you use, so to have a way to constantly check whether something is wrong or whether the syntax for a specific command is correct is helpful, to say the least. Again, this can be done using the man pages.