More Exploration

Learning to use basic tools

After installing tools for PAs, it is time to explore GNU/Linux again! Here is a small tutorial for GNU/Linux written by jyy. If you are new to GNU/Linux, read the tutorial carefully, and most important, try every command mentioned in the tutorial. Remember, you can not learn anything by only reading the tutorial. Besides, 鸟哥的Linux私房菜 is a book suitable for freshman in GNU/Linux.

Now, stop here. Here is a small tutorial for GDB. GDB is the most common used debugger under GNU/Linux. If you have not used a debugger yet (even in Visual Studio), blame the 程序设计基础 course first, then blame yourself, and finally, read the tutorial to learn to use GDB.

Installing tmux

tmux is a terminal multiplexer. With it, you can create multiple terminals in a single screen. It is very convenient when you are working with a high resolution monitor. To install tmux, just issue the following command:

apt-get install tmux

Now you can run tmux, but let's do some configuration first. Go back to the home directory:

cd ~

New a file called .tmux.conf:

vim .tmux.conf

Append the following content to the file:

setw -g c0-change-trigger 100
setw -g c0-change-interval 250

bind-key c new-window -c "#{pane_current_path}"
bind-key % split-window -h -c "#{pane_current_path}"
bind-key '"' split-window -c "#{pane_current_path}"

The first two lines of settings control the output rate of tmux. Without them, tmux may become unresponsive when lots of contents are output to the screen. The last three lines of settings make tmux "remember" the current working directory of the current pane while creating new window/pane.

Maximize the terminal windows size, then use tmux to create multiple normal-size terminals within single screen. For example, you may edit different files in different directories simultaneously. You can edit them in different terminals, compile them or execute other commands in another terminal, without opening and closing source files back and forth. You can scroll the content in a tmux terminal up and down. For how to use tmux, please search the Internet. The following picture shows a scene working with multiple terminals within single screen. Is it COOL?

tmux