Suse 9.1 Commands

Short, practical path for learning SUSE 9.1 command-line work (for @epsos and anyone else finding this thread years later): start by getting comfortable with general Linux commands and man pages, then layer on SUSE-specific tools (YaST, RPM/YOU and the SaX/X config helpers). A printed guide helps, but combine it with free online references and hands‑on practice in a VM or on a spare machine so you can safely break and fix things. Credit to @kc0arf for steering toward a good book and to @catch for noting the distro manual — both are solid first steps.

Begin with a gentle, structured tutorial plus reference material. The TLDP “Introduction to Linux” and similar HOWTOs give an organized tour and exercises; LinuxCommand.org (and William Shotts’s book) teaches the command-line workflow; the GNU coreutils manual describes the core tools (ls, cp, mv, chmod, chown, etc.) in authoritative detail; use the online man-pages project when you need precise option behavior. Learning strategy: read a short chapter, try the examples, then practice the same tasks on a VM. (tldp.org)

SUSE 9.1 specifics: YaST is the primary config and package interface (yast2/YOU for updates), and SUSE historically used SaX/SaX2 for X configuration; check or restore X by switching to text mode, backing up /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 or /etc/X11/xorg.conf, and reviewing /var/log/XFree86.0.log or /var/log/Xorg.0.log before editing. If X fails on boot, stop the X server (init 3), run yast2 (or sax2) to reconfigure video, and use the distro’s online update tool for vendor drivers. Always back up config files first and avoid editing while X is running. (suse.com)

Quick practice checklist (type and try each): man, ls -l, cd, cp, mv, rm, chmod, chown, ps aux, top, kill, rpm -qa, yast2, startx, less /var/log/XFree86.0.log. Use a VM or Live CD to experiment, keep snapshots, and read the man pages for every command you use.