_..._                                               .-'''-.           
    .-'_..._''.                                           '   _    \         
  .' .'      '.\  .                  .--.   _..._       /   /` '.   \        
 / .'           .'|                  |__| .'     '.    .   |     \  '   _.._ 
. '            <  |                  .--..   .-.   .   |   '      |  '.' .._|
| |             | |             __   |  ||  '   '  |   \    \     / / | '    
| |             | | .'''-.   .:--.'. |  ||  |   |  |    `.   ` ..' /__| |__  
. '             | |/.'''. \ / |   \ ||  ||  |   |  |       '-...-'`|__   __| 
 \ '.          .|  /    | | `" __ | ||  ||  |   |  |                  | |    
  '. `._____.-'/| |     | |  .'.''| ||__||  |   |  |                  | |    
    `-.______ / | |     | | / /   | |_   |  |   |  |                  | |    
             `  | '.    | '.\ \._,\ '/   |  |   |  |                  | |    
                '---'   '---'`--'  `"    '--'   '--'                  |_|    
                                                                        ___  
                                                                       (   )
  .--.      .--.   ___ .-. .-.    ___ .-. .-.     .---.   ___ .-.    .-.| | 
 /    \    /    \ (   )   '   \  (   )   '   \   / .-, \ (   )   \  /   \ | 
|  .-. ;  |  .-. ; |  .-.  .-. ;  |  .-.  .-. ; (__) ; |  |  .-. ; |  .-. | 
|  |(___) | |  | | | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |   .'`  |  | |  | | | |  | | 
|  |      | |  | | | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  / .'| |  | |  | | | |  | | 
|  | ___  | |  | | | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | | | /  | |  | |  | | | |  | | 
|  '(   ) | '  | | | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | | ; |  ; |  | |  | | | '  | | 
'  `-' |  '  `-' / | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | | ' `-'  |  | |  | | ' `-'  / 
 `.__,'    `.__.' (___)(___)(___)(___)(___)(___)`.__.'_. (___)(___) `.__,'  


 C h a i n  -o f-  C O M M A N D 




No GUI? No problem; there's the TUI (terminal user interface).

   Also known in hushed wisphers as the ~scary~ command line.

But don't let that blinking evil-eye cursor staring you down get
to you. There are many things to do given the right COMMAND.
So take control of the console to be at the top of the chain.
Following are many tasks listed that are possible, with hints given.
   




But first a word from the sponser...
Just kidding!
No souless corporate backing here. But it is probably good to know the
syntax used throughout. First it is assumed that the shell is 'bash',
unless explicitly stated otherwise. 

Many commands allow user interaction or navigation by mapping the press of
keyboard key(s) to different actions, collectively known as command keys.
Entries between '[ ]' (brackets) denote which key on the physical keyboard to tap.
Any letter indicated is CASE sensitive.

 Examples:
 [a] indicates the letter 'a' key pressed down a single time
 [Esc], [Ctrl], [Shift], [F1], etc. are the special labeled keys on the keyboard
 [Enter] is also the same as [Return] key    (different vendor labeling)
 [|^], [|v], [<-], [->]  are the ARROW labled keys which are UP, DOWN, LEFT,
    and RIGHT respectively
 Multiple key combinations are tied with the '+' (plus) sign like this:
    [Ctrl]+[c]   -press BOTH [Ctrl] and [c] at the same time once
    Being CASE sensitive, means [A] is really shorthand for [Shift]+[a]

Next on the agenda to highlight are these bordered areas scattered throughout:


  ╒══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╕
  │                                                                          │
  │ Terminal: example commands to type in your own black box.                │
  │                                                                          │
  ╘══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛

This box represents a shell window, whether that be a gnome-terminal or a
putty window, etc. Statements within the borders can be typed exactly as
shown into your own command prompt, except for some items explained below.

  • Comments are prefaced by a '#' (hash) character. These statements are
not meant to be run, and are just extra info or explanations of the
highlighted command. 
    • 

  • As used within the context of this document, any word beginning with
a '$' (dollar) sign are place holders that need to be replaced with a
valid user-provided value when actually typing the command out. It is
up to a user to know whether to substitute with a value, or if valid to
type the example command verbatim including the dollar sign '$WORD',
depending on if '$WORD' exists as a pre-defined variable or not.
  (Hint type 'set' at the command line to get a full listing)

For example $USER can be the personal username ID that was typed to log
  into the system, the shell variable as is, or replaced with the ID of
  another valid user on the system.
    • 

  • Values between two '#  #' (hash) character are optional parameters
    • 




Now onwards to the important task of conquering the command line!
     (or just skip to the fun stuff).




Browse the World Wide Web
Access sites, in the awesomeness of pure text! (yes it is possible)
Read articles or complete your search from the comfort of your console.
Some functions like banking may be a stretch too far...






Go Gopher hunting
No not the rodents out back digging into and dining on your vegatable garden
-the virtual kind out in Gopherspace. There is a whole new (old) world out
there to burrow into for the back-to-the-basics mindset.






Launch into a space capsule with Gemini
A budding new universe ready to be explored by the adventurous.
Gemni sites harken back to the good old days before the internet universe
got sucked into a black hole of corporate influence and AD-ridden pages
(as the Geminauts are want to say).






Get chatty, on IRC
Long before there were tweets, zoomin' or instant messaging, real-time
communication and online conferencing in chat rooms could already be had with
Internet Relay Chat. Even through much behind the scenes changes and the
arrival of other fancy new tech IRC continues to prove its usefulness. Still
the backbone for discussion and collaboration with many open source projects.






Access personal inbox
"Why should I write this down, that’s riveted, Screw’d to my memory?"
                                               ~William Shakespeare

Follow the Great Bard's advice: send self-reminders, quick notes, and
ideas to that magnificent West End revival for later review - without
ever leaving the terminal.






Read News groups
Get the latest headlines.






Jabber away with XMPP instant messaging
Already have a "buddy" list to keep in touch with? IM came about to allow
a more decentralized and personal chat option. Instead of requiring every-
one to log into the same server and fight for unique names to communicate,
it became much simpler for people to form their own virtual private chat
groups just by knowing the email-like ID of other users. These IDs stay
the same across the fediverse (& with no worries about nick hi-jacking).