4. Typographic Conventions

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

Meaning Examples
The name of commands, files, and directories. On screen computer output.

Edit your .login file.

Use ls -a to list all files.

    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.