This course will explain the basic concepts common to many computer operating systems and introduce you to a great number of tools and features provided by operating systems, especially Unix, which is currently the most popular at academic and research institutions and coming into widespread use elsewhere.
The Unix operating system has more personality than most, not because of how it works but because the people who built (and continue to build) it left such a distinctive mark on it with their senses of beauty, humor, and responsible behaviour. These have led to a system which, once you've grasped its fundamental philosophy, allows you both to make efficient use of your time and to have fun at it.
The creators of Unix used computers all day, every day, and wanted to use them as efficiently as possible. These people loved elegance and simplicity, and hated re-inventing the wheel, so they built a number of simple tools that could be combined as needed in billions of ways. They also loved whimsy, so you will find a lot of puns and jokes built into the system. On the other hand, they believed strongly in personal responsibility, so destructive pranks, invasions of privacy, and insults are strongly discouraged -- usually not by rules, but by peer pressure. Unix has evolved from a computer system to a philosophy and finally to a community. I hope, among other things, to make you productive and civilized members of that community.
A disadvantage of building the whole system out of simple tools is that you need to learn a lot of simple tools before you can do anything. So in the first half of the semester you'll read a lot of documentation and try your skill on small examples. In the second half of the semester the emphasis will shift from reading about Unix tools to actually using them.
Many of the people in this class are taking CSC 270 concurrently. You'll need to learn the same Unix tools and commands for both courses, but whereas for 270 it will suffice to learn only their simplest, most basic uses, in this class we'll discuss each tool and command in greater detail.