.RP
.TL
UNIX for Beginners
.AU
Brian W. Kernighan
.AI
Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, N. J.
.ND
.nr PS 9
.nr VS 11
.if n .ls 2
.RS
.sp 2
.if t .2C
.SH Introduction
.PP
In many ways,
.UC UNIX 
is
the state of the art
in computer operating systems.
From the user's point of view, it is easy
to learn and use,
and presents few of the usual impediments
to getting the job done.
.PP
It is hard, however, for the beginner
to know where to start,
and how to make the best use 
of the facilities available.
The purpose of this introduction
is to point out high spots for new users,
so they can get used to the main ideas of 
.UC UNIX
and start making good use of it quickly.
.PP
This paper is not an attempt to re-write
the
.ul 2
.UC UNIX
Programmer's Manual;
often the discussion of something
is simply
``read section x in the manual.''
(This implies that you will need a copy of the
.ul 2
.UC UNIX
Programmer's Manual.)
Rather it suggests in what order
to read the manual,
and it collects together
things that are stated only indirectly
in the manual.
.PP
There are five sections:
.IP "  1."
Getting Started:
How to log in to a
.UC UNIX,
how to type,
what to do about mistakes in typing,
how to log out.
Some of this is dependent on which
.UC UNIX
you log into
(phone numbers, for example)
and what terminal you use,
so this section must necessarily be supplemented
by local information.
.IP "  2."
Day-to-day Use:
Things you need every day to use
.UC UNIX
effectively:
generally useful commands;
the file system.
.IP "  3."
Document Preparation:
Preparing manuscripts is one of the most common uses
for
.UC UNIX.
This section contains advice,
but not
extensive instructions on any
of the formatting programs.
.IP "  4."
Writing Programs:
.UC UNIX
is an excellent vehicle for developing programs.
This section talks about some of the tools,
but again is not a tutorial in any of the programming languages
that
.UC UNIX
provides.
.IP "  5."
A
.UC UNIX
Reading List.
An annotated bibliography of 
documents worth reading by new users.