The best way to learn UNIX is by practicing so before we learn the basic commands, let’s obtain a free shell account.
There are many organizations providing free shell account. I recommend The Super Dimension Fortress (SDF) http://sdf-eu.org/ free shell account service. This is a non-profit organization providing free shell accounts since 1987.
Signing Up Instruction:
- Visit http://sdf.lonestar.org/index.cgi?telnet – a shell prompt will appear
- On the “Login: ” prompt, type “new” without the quote and click Enter
- A new “Login: ” prompt will show up => type “new” without quote again and click Enter
- It will ask “Are you using Windows 2K or XP?” => if you are using Windows, type “Y” without quote and click Enter (Y means yes)
- It will ask “Please click your BACKSPACE key” => click on your Backspace key on the keyboard
- A new “PLEASE READ THIS CAREFULLY” screen will appear => read it completely and click Enter (RETURN means Enter)
- The server will ask: “What would you like to use for your login?” => enter a username you would like (username is 8 characters MAX) => click Enter
If the username you entered was already taken, a new “FEP Command: ” will appear => don’t worry, type “mkacct” and click Enter => repeat until you find an available username
- When you find an available username, it will say “continue? (yes/no)” => type “yes” without quote and click Enter
- SDF will then display its policy => read it completely => type “yes” and click Enter
- Click Enter again when it says “RETURN”
- Enter your Name and a series of other questions => after you are done with answering the questions and entered your password => the system will start creating your account => once done, it will dispay “Welcome to SDF, yourusername!”
- You are now done with creating a free shell account with SDF. Are you super excited?
– end of tutorial –