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The Best Cheat Sheets For Linux Users 2011
By Joe Purcell
Expert Author
Article Date: 2011-09-07
Most Linux users are power users. That is changing somewhat with the changes some distros are making to appeal more to the everyday user, but the fact remains that the Linux community is geared towards being able to do an infinite loop in 5 seconds. Below are the best cheat sheets on six core areas that many Linux users work in: bash, networking, regex, Vim, LAMP, and LaTeX.
Cheat sheets are extremely beneficial when you need information in a frequency less than what allows you to remember by repetition, but greater than what makes sense to go searching for it on the internet. Cheat sheets are not just references, but they can also help you expand your ability as a Linux user. Any time you go to complete a task use cheat sheets to help you determine if it can be done quicker using a command or shortcut you didn't previously know about.
1. Bash
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/397277/bash_shell_cheat_sheetV2.pdf
Any bash cheat sheet needs to reference: file compression, crontab, chmod, user and group creation and management, logs, process management, basic text processing such as searching and replacing (tail, head, find, grep, sort, wc), basic shortcuts (i.e. CTRL+U), and other basic commands. This is the best bash cheat sheet I could find. Its major problem is that it spans 7 pages! However, it covers a lot of the basics new Linux users need and that professionals need to reference.
2. Networking
Networking is something that every Linux user runs into. A good cheat sheet would reference programs like ifconfig, wget, dig, traceroute, nmap, etc, and mention common ports and configuration for IPs, DNS, hosts, and the like as well as syntax. Perhaps it could even include some home networking tips for new users. I didn't find anything like this, but there are a plethora of networking cheat sheets by Jeremy Stretch at PacketLife.net including a comprehensive list of common ports. This area could benefit greatly from
3. Regex
http://www.addedbytes.com/cheat-sheets/regular-expressions-cheat-sheet/
Regular expressions deserve at least one cheat sheet in your toolbox. They are handy almost everywhere. I personally don't care much for regex cheat sheets because when I go to write a regex and I don't know how to write it off the top of my head, more than likely I will need much more than just a glance at a cheat sheet. Perhaps even more beneficial would be a list of common regex patterns.
4. Vim
http://www.cs.jhu.edu/~joanne/viRC.pdf
This cheat sheet is unbeatable. Print it out on a single sheet of paper and you have every Vim user's dream. I assume it was put together by Joanne Selinski at Johns Hopkins University, but I cannot confirm that. It can be used to help you go from novice to ninja in Vim. It has all the basic commands and commands you would never think about. It is worth mentioning a rival one here, but it is not lad out as well and too complex.
This core aspect of using Linux could be EMACS, but who wants to learn how to use another operating system? (And on goes the holy wars...) Though some would consider it a sin to use Vim, it truly is an amazing piece of software. If you are still using Gedit or a more GUI-based editor look into Vim, and if you must, Emacs.
5. LAMP
Apache: http://www.digilife.be/quickreferences/QRC/Apache%20Quick%20Reference%20Card.pdf
Apache [htaccess]: http://cote.cc/sites/default/files/blog/htaccess-cheat-sheet-.pdf
MySQL: http://www.addedbytes.com/cheat-sheets/mysql-cheat-sheet/
PHP: http://www.addedbytes.com/cheat-sheets/php-cheat-sheet/
The best LAMP cheat sheet should combine the above ones on Apache, MySQL, and PHP and should span 3 double-sided pages (so, a PDF of 6 pages). This does not yet exist. So, the above will have to do for now. The Apache one, unfortunately, does not cover htaccess, which is a core aspect for most users. However, having HTTP status codes and the various directives are also necessary, so I've included both cheat sheets.
The best MySQL cheat sheets should show common things like syntax for adding primary keys, indexes, and users. This cheat sheet doesn't quite get there but it does show functions, PHP functions, and data types with their lengths.
Any PHP cheat sheet should include date formatting, sorting (including array_multisort), database connections, regex, file handling, control structures, values that make empty() return true, operators, and the values that become boolean false when converting. The PHP cheat sheet by Dave Child at AddedBytes does some of this and is one page, so it's the best I found. Perhaps included in the LAMP cheat sheet should be a security checklist such as this one.
6. LaTeX
http://www.stdout.org/~winston/latex/
Symbols: http://www.stat.berkeley.edu/~sourav/symbols-a4.pdf
Many Linux users do not use LaTeX, which is unfortunate. However, writing and formatting documents is a core function for any Linux user. LaTeX separates design from code, in this case content, allowing the user to fully control what the end result is. There should be a cheat sheet that includes key symbols, a general LaTeX reference, basic sytax for latex2pdf, and perhaps even a quick reference for pdftk (PDF Toolkit). This cheat sheet covers the basics, including a sample LaTeX document. It only includes a few symbols, so I've also linked to the comprehensive guide to LaTeX symbols which was produced by Scott Pakin.
Other
There are a few other cheat sheets that should be mentioned, but don't often apply to core Linux users:
For other Linux cheat sheets take a look at All the Best Linux Cheat Sheets or Top 10 Best Cheat Sheets and Tutorials for Linux / UNIX Commands. The best cheat sheet website for any kind that I have found is devcheatsheet.com, though it is sometimes a hit or a miss.
About the Author:
Joe Purcell is a technology virtuoso, cyberspace frontiersman, and connoisseur of Linux, Mac, and Windows alike.
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