I want to learn as much as possible about as much as possible, and I recently got serious about Linux. I installed it onto a T-21 Thinkpad. I was trying to mess with the terminal, and was reading some things online, and in a book on how to use Red Hat, but some of the commands weren't recognized. Is the problem the version? Also, can all Linux commands be used in all versions of Linux? Thanks. Emachines T-2200, Sound Blaster live 5.1, ATI 9200se main comp Asus A7N8X, AMD 2500 Barton, 1 gig Corsair, Geforce 4200ti

I would say probably so, because all Linux commands aren't valid with all Linux versions.

In a terminal window or at a console display, man is your friend (info too). Simply run 'man <command>' (no quotes). If <command> is installed, you should get a synopsis of its use. To exit the man display, press [Q] (for quit). If <command> is not found, you will have to install it to be able to use it. Most distributions provide a package manager, and I believe RedHat 9 does too. Some commands require root (administrative) access. For such commands, run 'sudo <command>' (no quotes). You will have to enter the root password when requested for <command> to succeed. Alternatively, 'become' root with 'su [ENTER]', (provide the root password when requested) and execute <command>. Ernie Registered Linux User 247790 ICQ 41060744

If using "su" to switch to root user add a "-" at the end in order to get root's path too, eg: $ su - Depending on how sudo is set up you may also have to give the whole path to the command, eg: $ sudo /usr/sbin/iptables

3Dave is kind of hinting about another problem you may have, which is the $PATH environment variable. There is a good chance that most of your programs are in a directory that is not in your $PATH. For example if you do "ifconfig" It probably won't find the file, so find it by typing "find / -name ifconfig" move to that directory (don't forget you can press TAB twice to auto fill names (it may be ESC if your using BASH)) and type "./ifconfig" tada, it should now run. Have a look on google or wiki about configuring environment variables in linux ;)