My 5 go-to Linux commands for troubleshooting - and how I use them

Jack Wallen / Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNET Much to the chagrin of those who would like to malign the Linux operating system, it's actually quite easy to use. Thanks to modern GUI desktop environments and applications, anyone can jump into the fray and know what they're doing. On the rare occasions when trouble arises, you might want to know a few commands to help you out. The problem is that there are so many commands available within the realm of Linux, which makes it challenging to know which commands are the best options. Also: The first 5 Linux commands every new user should learn Sure, you can learn any of the commands that display system information (such as top, free, iostat, htop, vmstat, and iftop), but those tools will only get you so far. What is more valuable is skipping to the command that can really help you if something goes wrong. With that introduction out of the way, let's get to the commands. 1. dmesg Back when I first started using Linux, dmesg was my best fri ... Read full article.