Linux

Repetition is key. If you do it enough you'll remember it.

You could make aliases that are easier to remember for you.

If you e.g. had trouble remembering that mv does a rename, you could alias rename=mv. Ideally just put whatever you would have googled in "linux command to x" as the alias.

That's the power of Linux; you can tweak everything to your preferences and needs.

You can make a cheatsheet and keep it on your desk

I just use guis

I made a text file using vim that contains all of the commands I use. I open it in a terminal window when I need a reference.

Use GUIs for all the things.

Linux users are obsessed with the command line because it's faster if you can type fast and remember everything. If you can't, GUIs are actually much much faster because you are visually guided towards what you're looking for and have to spend little time looking for the correct commands and syntax and everything.

Do you struggle to remember the names of commands or how to use them or how you have used them in the past?

you don't need to remember anything, except commands you use the most often but even then it becomes muscle memory after a while. If you ever need some specific command to use, just look it up online.

I'm also not a text first person. There are a lot of us about. I have found GUI applications to do most commands I need. Most IT users don't know them, as they've never searched for them. I pin the apps as Favourites in the launcher, to help remember my processes. The apps typically keep the last used values, making them quite productive.

I recommend to installed starship, fish and ZSH. I just tried them recently with config files from a friend and am pleasantly surprised:

https://github.com/A5t4t1ne/arch_config/tree/main

Apart from fzf that helps me find recently used commands and also files and directories easily, I also use tldr that gives you a simple cheat sheet for every command and very often saves you trawling through endless man pages.

Probably not very helpful in this case but a very nice resource for learning cli is:

https://explainshell.com/

Keep a "cheat sheet" of common commands printed out nearby-- either something from the internet and/or a custom one for your own commands.

Also, nobody can remember all the commands. We mostly just remember the ones we use most often. Otherwise, we have to look things up! It's not too bad since you know that the command exists and you just need to know the exact way to type it.

Find mnemonics to help remember certain things. For example if you want to decompress a .tar file, you remember "xtract zee file" or: tar -xzf

history | grep command you're searching for

That will return all commands you've typed that contain that keyword. Helps if you remember part of a command, but can't remember the specific flags or the proper format.

If there are common commands that you use over and over, turn them into a Bash script and name the script something descriptive.

I do that for long commands that I don't want to type out, like my whole system update workflow: sudo apt update -y && sudo apt upgrade -y && sudo flatpak update -y

I saved that as a Bash script and called it "update.sh" then I saved it in my home directory. Now whenever I want to do a full system update, I just type ./update.sh and it asks me for my password, then updates my whole system without me having to do anything else. I do this with several different tasks like my remote Ansible server updates.

Other than that, you can buy/make a linux command cheat sheet with the most common commands. Keep it with you or next to your computer. Look at it whenever you need a refresh.

My solutions are:

• Just arrow up until you find the command from last.
• Learn to use CTRL-r and search for old commands.
• Bash completion helps with arguments
• Save stuff in shell scripts

Anything you have trouble remembering, or just find yourself doing often, create an alias (or bash script if it constitutes a multi line command). Name the alias something you can easily remember that also lets you know what that command does.

Then, and here's he trick, don't rely on the alias. Use it when you can't remember, say "aww, damn it I had to use the alias again", and then use which followed by the alias name to see what the command was again. Do this over and over and eventually some commands will stick.

Ones that you don't care about or are just super long, just keep using the alias and don't worry about remembering them. Use aliases as both commands and notes.

Hi,

I’m a Windows user of all life

I was a Mac user for 35+ years (still am, partly). It took me a little while to get used to new names/commands in Linux but that's to be expected. And it is not much an issue anymore ;)

I am those persons that has bad times remembering names, words… imagine commands… Even after using it so much I remember some basics but I’m struggling a lot and I have to go back to notes constantly to do some basic operations. Even worst after trying multiple distro from from different upstreams that commands are … Different

What kind of commands exactly? I mean, I don't know that 'commands' are different from one distro to the other' as they all use the same apps. So, beside the name of a few specific ones (like, maybe the app installer).

What would be your recommendations to help me. Are there tools to help this issue ?

My two sole advice:

• don't try to remember too many commands. Instead, focus on the ones you use daily or very often. After you get those memorized you can always decide to memorize more... or not memorize them at all. I don't bother remembering them, why would I when I can easily use Ctrl+F and instantly find them the moment I need them?

How do I do? I keep a text files in which I store all the stuff I seldom use but still want to be able to find in case I need it someday. To make finding them easier, I put descriptive titles and comments with each command. And that's what I'm searching for, not the command name ;)

• If you're talking about Terminal commands, learn to create your own aliases they will let you remember a short name instead of full commands. I have a few lengthy commands and some scripts (for example, to compress images) that I I regularly use. I don't remember them. I've saved them in a .sh file that I can either call through a Terminal or simply by a right-click in my file Explorer (it's Nemo and they're called 'Actions', on Linux Mint)

Up arrow

or

"history" if you're a psychopath

I keep bash scripts on my desktop to do common things

If it's basic commands, there's games like Terminal Quest that can help gamify your learning. Helped me.

Around 2012-2014 it was common to have Conky print things like system information or keyboard shortcuts in the desktop.

I think Conky is still around although less popular now. You could look into that though.

This is just an example from an image search for Conky desktop, but it gives you an idea how information can be displayed https://live.staticflickr.com/4062/4543953032_e6d7473206.jpg

Just create aliases with words you'll remember. Fart, Fart2, ect.

There's nothing wrong with notes. I keep a text file open permanently at work and home with all my notes in it. I have a bunch of commands in it to copy-paste. Or Ctrl+r and type to search the history.

But if you want to memorize, I usually use flash cards.

tealdeer and writing them down in a document

Install Thefuck to help when you screw up commands.

@geography082 Thanks for this:

https://lemmy.starlightkel.xyz/pictrs/image/b336b5ec-2117-4acc-ba54-3457ad98f22d.jpeg

#linux
#bash
#CheatSheet

Fish

I currently use Bytestash. Used to use Obsidian, but the fact that all I have to do is pull up a webpage to copy and paste a command I need made ByteStash a better fit for me.

repetition...repetition...repetition...repetition...repetition...repetition...repetition...repetition...lol

https://tldr.sh/

Idea 1:

Print out some of the various CLI cheat sheets and pin them to your wall by where you work on your computer.

Maybe this one:

Then, print a page with commands you commonly use, either with more complex syntax or that aren't on the sheet. (Like, "ls" is on there, but "ls -s -h" is not, for example.

Idea 2:

Write bash scripts to automate some of your commonly used tasks. Comment them. Imagine someone else is going to have to use them, even if you're the only one who's ever going to look at them. Not only will this help you learn lots of commands and force you to describe what they do (which will help you retain the information), it will be there as a record of how it works that you can go back and look at months or years later, to remind yourself how to do something.

Here is my personal approach to this.

• I have set my bash history to a ridiculous 1000000 max length, so that I can use CTRL+R to search for commands that I have ran before

• I write down a lot of commands in a searchable note text document

• Ask chatGPT

• Use the tldr command

• Added A LOT of verbose custom aliases and scripts. For example instead of

inotifywait -m -r --exclude "(/tmp.*|/var/cache.*|/dev/pts/|/var/log.*)" -e MOVED_TO -e CREATE -e CLOSE_WRITE -e DELETE -e MODIFY . (nobody can remember that alphabet gibberish)

I just type watch_for_changes .

Since it is verbose, straight from my brain, I always remember it and it works with autocomplete. I have like ~30 such commands so far.