Linux - Tab Autocomplete, Whatis, Man Pages, --Help

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The UX for Linux can cause fits of laughter for all of the wrong reasons. Even the tools that are offered to help users can be frustrating to use and understand. We will go over Tab Autocomplete, whatis, man pages and the help command.

Tab Autocomplete

Type the beginning of a command and then hit the tab key (possibly twice) and a list of commands that start with your input will be shown.

whatis Command

Type whatis and then a command name and a short explanation of the command will be displayed.

Man Pages

Man pages are manual pages that are built into the Linux operating system and were copied from Unix.
Type Man and then the command and the Man Page will be displayed.
man ifconfig

Help

Typing –help after a command will display the info page for the command.
Info Pages are supposed to be an updated version of Man Pages.
Commands will have both Man Pages and Info Pages so users can choose which format they prefer.
Use –help|less to give yourself ability to scroll through the info page. Use q to exit.
ifconfig --help|less