This module gave a very quick tour of the features of the SCRTP Linux desktop and covered the commands you are likely to need day to day.

We started on the graphical desktop, which looks a lot like any other desktop environment (Microsoft Windows, MacOS etc). There is a Taskbar with shortcuts and icons for open programs. The 'kickoff' menu (equivalent to the Windows Start menu) is used to open programs and access files.

Moving on to the command line, we went briefly through some commands to deal with folders, or directories, including finding where you are, creating folders, and moving around. We showed how to copy and move files, and chose a text editor to view simple files. This section finished with a few different ways to find files by name or content.

Next we went through a few options for getting help and sample commands, both online and offline. Writing good bug/issue/feature request forms is crucial when seeking specific help. If you use any special programs or computing resources, you wil probably encounter problems which you cannot fix yourself and learning to identify the crux of such issues is a valuable skill.

The next section covered very briefly the task of accessing resources or files on other computers. We very briefly covered the difference between login and compute machines and a few useful commands. When using these, pay special attention to the Welcome messages which can contain important information.

We gave a very brief introduction to the bash-shell environment and some useful information about configuring things for your day to day working, and a very brief overview of how to see running processes and watch files as they change.

Finally, we went very briefly through the module system on cluster machines, and how to load different programs and their versions.

Alongside the main notes we referred to a few very useful snippets of more detailled information. These are available here. You may wish to skim through any you have not read, or make a note for future reference.