Introduction
This list intends to answer the question most often asked by new users of Kubuntu and Linux: Where is all the documentation?
In short, a large amount of documentation is bundled with Kubuntu. More is easily installable through the package manager. Even more official documentation is available on the Web. If that's not enough, many generous souls have volunteered their time to contribute free information on the Internet.
The Official Ubuntu Book
If you want a paper manual it is here, and it covers Kubuntu as well. Just make sure you get the edition appropriate for your version of Kubuntu.
The Official Ubuntu Book 5th Edition (for Kubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx)
The Help menu
All KDE programs have a Help menu at the right side of the top menu bar. Pull it down to read the program's handbook, get tips, report bugs, and check version information. You can also access any KDE program's handbook by simply pressing the F1 key on your keyboard.
Most non-KDE programs also have help menus or buttons, but sometimes they may be empty. Some non-KDE programs include the manual in PDF, HTML, or plain text form. For those which do not you should visit the official website of the program, which is sometimes linked from within the program itself.
Context Sensitive Help
Most KDE programs include context sensitive help which is diplayed in a tooltip. To view the tooltip you must first click the ? (question mark) in the program's title bar. If you don't see a ? in the title bar then press and release the F1 key on your computer's keyboard while holding down the Shift key. The tooltip will appear when you click on the object you want help with.
Non-KDE programs may also include context sensitive help which may be invoked in a variety of different ways, many times using a menu item, help button, or keyboard shortcut. The context help may be displayed in a tooltip, in the program's status bar, or in an entirely seperate window. Consult the program's manual to learn how to invoke context help.
The KDE Help Center
The KDE Help Center is often overlooked by even experienced users. It is the primary index for all kinds of documentation on your Kubuntu system. This should always be the first place you look for official documentation.
K Menu -> Help
Opens KDE Help Center. Click the Contents tab on the left to show the document tree. Once inside KDE Help Center, familiarize yourself with the major branches of the document tree as described below.
Kubuntu Documents -> Kubuntu System Documentation Index
Contains documentation, tutorials, and FAQs for major programs and system facilities in Kubuntu.
Welcome to KDE
A newbie-friendly introduction to the K Desktop Environment.
KDE Users' Manual
Explains how to get things done in KDE using major programs and system facilities. The manual is in seven parts, going from simple tasks to advanced system administration.
Application Manuals
Full manuals for all your KDE applications, and a wealth of system information pages.
Tutorials -> Quickstart Guide
KDE quickstart guide
Tutorials -> A Visual Guide to KDE
Guide to KDE widgets
UNIX manual pages
Every installed program's man page is indexed here.
Browse Info Pages
GNU info documentation is listed here. The info documents serve as users' guides, references, and examples for GNU programs. It is advisable to install and read them whenever they exist. For some programs info documentation is installable from a seperate package. Look up the program by name in the package manager and install the package containing the info documents to read them here.
The KDE FAQ
Just what it sounds like, KDE Frequently Asked Questions list
Documentation folders
Check the following folders on your system for documentation which doesn't show up in KDE Help Center. It is convenient to browse these locations with Konqueror.
- /usr/share/doc/programname/
- /usr/share/programname/doc/
- /usr/local/share/doc/programname/
You may have to check the program's man page or description in the package manager to discover where its documents are installed.
Rog131 has kindly contributed guidance for adding such documents to KDE Help Center.
The following packages install documents from The Linux Documentation Project into the folder /usr/share/doc/HOWTO:
Command line documentation
The Linux command line, sometimes called terminal or console, is the most powerful and flexible way to work with your Kubuntu system. With it you can become as intimate as you wish with the inner workings of the computer, but this article only adresses how to find documentation on the command line. Look to the end of this section for links to command line tutorials.
Kubuntu's terminal application is Konsole. Commands entered inside Konsole are interpreted by BASH. In Unix parlance, such an interpreter is commonly called a command shell.
For BASH internal functions (commonly called called builtin commands) you can simply enter help on the command line. Bash will respond with the paragraph below, followed by the list of Bash internals.
Originally posted by help
Code:
$ help help
help: help [-s] [pattern ...]
Display helpful information about builtin commands. If PATTERN is
specified, gives detailed help on all commands matching PATTERN,
otherwise a list of the builtins is printed. The -s option
restricts the output for each builtin command matching PATTERN to
a short usage synopsis.
Code:
$ help cd
cd: cd [-L|-P] [dir]
Change the current directory to DIR. The variable $HOME is the
default DIR. The variable CDPATH defines the search path for
the directory containing DIR. Alternative directory names in CDPATH
are separated by a colon (:). A null directory name is the same as
the current directory, i.e. `.'. If DIR begins with a slash (/),
then CDPATH is not used. If the directory is not found, and the
shell option `cdable_vars' is set, then try the word as a variable
name. If that variable has a value, then cd to the value of that
variable. The -P option says to use the physical directory structure
instead of following symbolic links; the -L option forces symbolic links
to be followed.
Code:
$ help exit
exit: exit [n]
Exit the shell with a status of N. If N is omitted, the exit status
is that of the last command executed.
Code:
$ apropos --help
Usage: apropos [OPTION...] KEYWORD...
-d, --debug emit debugging messages
-v, --verbose print verbose warning messages
-e, --exact search each keyword for exact match
-r, --regex interpret each keyword as a regex
-w, --wildcard the keyword(s) contain wildcards
-a, --and require all keywords to match
-l, --long do not trim output to terminal width
-C, --config-file=FILE use this user configuration file
-L, --locale=LOCALE define the locale for this search
-m, --systems=SYSTEM include alternate systems' man pages
-M, --manpath=PATH set search path for manual pages to PATH
-s, --section=SECTION search only this section
-?, --help give this help list
--usage give a short usage message
-V, --version print program version
Mandatory or optional arguments to long options are also mandatory or optional
for any corresponding short options.
The --regex option is enabled by default.
Report bugs to no_spam@nospam.com
Code:
$ file --help
Usage: file [OPTION]... [FILE]...
Determine file type of FILEs.
-m, --magic-file LIST use LIST as a colon-separated list of magic
number files
-z, --uncompress try to look inside compressed files
-b, --brief do not prepend filenames to output lines
-c, --checking-printout print the parsed form of the magic file, use in
conjunction with -m to debug a new magic file
before installing it
-e, --exclude exclude test from the list of test to be
performed for file. Valid tests are:
ascii, apptype, elf, compress, soft, tar
-f, --files-from FILE read the filenames to be examined from FILE
-F, --separator string use string as separator instead of `:'
-i, --mime output mime type strings
-k, --keep-going don't stop at the first match
-L, --dereference causes symlinks to be followed
-n, --no-buffer do not buffer output
-N, --no-pad do not pad output
-p, --preserve-date preserve access times on files
-r, --raw don't translate unprintable chars to \ooo
-s, --special-files treat special (block/char devices) files as
ordinary ones
or
--help display this help and exit
or
--version output version information and exit
or
-C, --compile compile file specified by -m
Code:
$ konqueror --help
Usage: konqueror [Qt-options] [KDE-options] [KDE-tempfile-options] [options]
[URL]
Web browser, file manager, ...
Generic options:
--help Show help about options
--help-qt Show Qt specific options
--help-kde Show KDE specific options
--help-kde-tempfile Show KDE-tempfile specific options
--help-all Show all options
--author Show author information
-v, --version Show version information
--license Show license information
-- End of options
Options:
--silent Start without a default window
--preload Preload for later use
--profile <profile> Profile to open
--profiles List available profiles
--mimetype <mimetype> Mimetype to use for this URL (e.g. text/html or
inode/directory)
--select For URLs that point to files, opens the directory
and selects the file, instead of opening the actual
file
Arguments:
URL Location to open
Code:
less --help man --help | less info --help | less
Code:
man man man info man less man konqueror
Code:
man 1 intro man 7 hier man 7 glob man 7 regex
Code:
$ apropos ntfs mount.ntfs (8) - Third Generation Read/Write NTFS Driver mount.ntfs-3g (8) - Third Generation Read/Write NTFS Driver ntfs-3g (8) - Third Generation Read/Write NTFS Driver ntfs-3g.probe (8) - Probe an NTFS volume mountability smbcquotas (1) - Set or get QUOTAs of NTFS 5 shares
Code:
$ apropos samba cupsaddsmb (8) - export printers to samba for windows clients eventlogadm (8) - push records into the Samba event log store filesharelist (1) - add/remove/list NFS and Samba file shares fileshareset (1) - add/remove/list NFS and Samba file shares idmap_ad (8) - Samba's idmap_ad Backend for Winbind idmap_rid (8) - Samba's idmap_rid Backend for Winbind lmhosts (5) - The Samba NetBIOS hosts file net (8) - Tool for administration of Samba and remote CIFS servers. pdbedit (8) - manage the SAM database (Database of Samba Users) samba (7) - A Windows SMB/CIFS fileserver for UNIX smb.conf (5) - The configuration file for the Samba suite smbpasswd (5) - The Samba encrypted password file smbstatus (1) - report on current Samba connections tdbbackup (8) - tool for backing up and for validating the integrity of samba .tdb files
That's where GNU Info documentation comes in. Info documentation is very much intended to teach you how to use a program productively. Info documents contain many examples which show exactly how to invoke the program for a specific task. They explain the program and its options in much greater depth than the man page, and explain why the program works the way it does.
Code:
info
Code:
info coreutils
Originally posted by /usr/share/doc/info/README.Debian
Code:
sudo apt-get install texinfo-doc-nonfree
Code:
info info info info-stnd info texinfo
Code:
sudo apt-get install bash-doc info bashref
Code:
apt-cache search --names-only 'doc$' | sort | less
Code:
sudo apt-get install newbiedoc konqueror /usr/share/doc/newbiedoc
- /usr/share/doc/bash/README.commands.gz
- Commands at Konsole: Beginners - Qqmike
- Using the Command Line - Documentation for Ubuntu 10.04 LTS
- Using The Terminal - Community Ubuntu Documentation
- CommandlineHowto - Community Ubuntu Documentation
- Linux Command Line Learning Resources - Ubuntu Forums
Official Kubuntu documentation online
If you need to seek help online, go to the official documentation sites first. Most official Ubuntu documentation applies to Kubuntu as well.
- Kubuntu Help and Support
- Official Ubuntu Documentation
- Community Ubuntu Documentation
- Ubuntu Manpage Repository
Kubuntu related official documentation online
Official documentation to almost every Kubuntu application, function, and command is maintained online. Point your web browser to one of these sites and start reading.
Semi-official Kubuntu help channels online
These online resources are staffed by Kubuntu and Ubuntu community volunteers. Any help you get here may not be officially sanctioned by the Kubuntu team, but it's usually the best help you can get. Read the official documentation above first to get the best help possible.
- GettingAnswers, and Destinations
- Kubuntuforums (HowTo's)
- Ubuntu Forums (Tutorials & Tips)
- #kubuntu on freenode IRC
Unoffical Kubuntu information online
Some experienced Kubuntu and Ubuntu users have given freely of their own time and energy to create web based resources to help fellow users. These are trusted resources for Kubuntu related tutorials and help. Read the official documentation above first to make the best use of these resources.
- The Kubuntu Guide (alternate URL as of December 2011: http://kubuntuguide.info)
- Psychocat's Ubuntu Linux Resources
Unofficial Linux help online
- LinuxQuestions Ubuntu forum
- FLOSS Manuals (en)
- LinuxCommand.org
- bash commands - Linux MAN Pages: SS64
Getting Started With Ubuntu
The Ubuntu Manual Team have published Getting Started With Ubuntu, a guide which aims to help new users become acquainted with Ubuntu quickly and easily. This unofficial work is a community based project, and everyone is welcome to contribute. Paper copies of Getting Started With Ubuntu are available for purchase, or PDF copy of the book may be downloaded for free.
Rute User's Tutorial and Exposition
Paul Sheer's Rute has long been a trusted source of information and guidance for Linux administrators. Although not official Kubuntu documentation, it provides deep insight into how GNU/Linux systems work and how to do fundamental administrative tasks. The material is fairly technical, and assumes readers have prior knowledge of computer hardware and other operating systems.
- Read Rute version 1.0.0 on the web (A PDF version is also available for download.)
- Read askrieger's guidance for installing Rute locally through the package manager
Conclusion
Help make this article more useful by posting your suggestions in this thread. Is a major documentation or help resource missing? Can the wording or formatting of the list be improved? Please remember that this list is intended to guide new users to official documentation first. Sources of official documentation for this document are listed below in order of preference, with the most desireable options first.
- anything and everything included in the default Kubuntu installation
- documentation published by Canonical or with their consent, regardless of medium, which they have designated as official
- packages installable from the Canonical repositories
- documents available within the Kubuntu.org domain
- documents available within the Ubuntu.com domain
- documentation and resources which are linked directly from the Kubuntu.org or Ubuntu.com domains
- documentation and resources available directly from developers, packagers, and maintainers of software in the Canonical repositories, regardless of medium
Please leave some feedback, and thanks for reading.
History
- Reword parts of "Command line documentation" and add a few more links to explain terms
- Add Ubuntu Documentation Search
- Add /usr/local/share/doc/ to Documentation folders list
- Add Qqmike's tutorial Commands at Konsole: Beginners
- Add Rute, and link to askrieger's post on installing locally.
- Link to Rog131's post on adding documentation to KDE Help Center
- Add flossmanuals.net thanks to Rog131
- Add Using The Terminal - Community Ubuntu Documentation and CommandlineHowto - Community Ubuntu Documentation
- Mention whatis
- Add Ubuntu Manpages Repository
- Mention man intro
- Add /usr/share/doc/bash/README.commands.gz
- Add doc-linux- packages
- Formatting cleanup, remove some redundant words
- Choose some better command line examples
- Define official documentation
- Explain context help
- Rewrite and expand the treatment of GNU info documentation
- The Official Ubuntu Book has been updated to 5th edition and covers Kubuntu 10.04
- Add Getting Stared With Ubuntu 10.04
- Add Using the Command Line
- Add links to doc-linux- packages
- Change link from dead HowToGetHelp article to GettingAnswers, add Destinations
- Remove dead link to KubuntuWay Forums
- Replace link to apparently dead linux.org with WP article
- Replace the word newbies with the phrase new users because some may not understand that newbie is not derogatory
- Fix link to command line options in WP article
- Move Kubuntu FAQ link to Help and Support
- Add more interesting man page examples
- updated url http://kubuntuguide.info
- removed stale documentation search link
- add fancy image, thanKs to StarWolf (now known as starbear)
- munged an email address which inadvertently included from terminal output, updated in-forum links post vbulletin transition, cleaned up other links, added Linux Command Line Learning Resources - Ubuntu Forums
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