The Tech Nut

Being a n00b can be frustrating. Trust me…I know. At least in Linux, I’m still comfortable n00bish. And, the exultation of figuring something out can be fun. So, I’m starting the I’m a Linux n00b series, to keep a log of my experiences in Linux.

The first episode of this series, will be about how I got to know and use .SH files in Linux.

As far as I understand, .sh files are used for running shell scripts in Linux. Scripts are a set of commands that are stored as a separate file, till it’s necessary to execute them. Let me tell you about my experience with scripts…

During the Fop incident, I had to install avast! on Linux, to get rid of the nasty infection(s - still debatable). Anyway, installing avast! was easy enough, because avast! provides a nice little .deb package for n00bs like me! No hassles in installing that. But, then, adding the finishing touches…like adding desktop icons, adding it to menus, had to be done by manually executing a .SH script. Oh…oh…that’s simple enough for people like Ankur, but for a freaking amateur like me, it drove me out of my mind! Inside a folder called desktop in the avast! main folder, this script was having a chat with the desktop icon and I think the shortcut.

Anyway, I was in the terminal, and trying to sudo the file into doing something…anything. Tried all kinds of crap with it, including scanning the file to see if it gave me any hint at all! And when I guessed it, I thought, no WAY! This just can’t be the command I was looking for.

Turns out it was.

Just type sh into the terminal, along with the filename. Simple? I hope it helps some poor rookie out there in the world. The script might ask for some confirmation, but it should be easy as pie. If you still can’t figure it out, you guessed it, go boil ‘yer head!