Typographic Conventions

The following table describes the typographic conventions used in this book.

Meaning Examples
The names of commands. Use ls -l to list all files.
The names of files. Edit your .login file.
On screen computer output.
You have mail.
What you type, when contrasted with on-screen computer output.
% su
Password:
Manual page references. Use su(1) to change user names.
User and group names Only root can do this.
Emphasis You must do this.
Command line variables; replace with the real name or variable. To delete a file, type rm filename
Environment variables $HOME is your home directory.