Course · Linux
A real Linux system booting inside this page. Type commands, make files, break things on purpose: it all lives in your browser’s memory and can’t touch your computer. Restart and it is brand new. When you want a full distribution to play in, open the Arch Linux playground.
Tips: click the black screen and type like a normal terminal, or use the box underneath (handy on phones). Tab completes names, ↑ repeats commands, Ctrl+C stops one. Save keeps this exact machine in your browser so you can pick up later.
| pwd | where am I |
| ls -la | list everything, with details |
| cd dir | go into a folder (cd .. up, cd ~ home) |
| mkdir / touch | make a folder / an empty file |
| cp, mv, rm | copy, move or rename, delete |
| cat, head, tail | show a file, its start, its end |
| grep word file | find lines containing a word |
| a | b | send a’s output into b |
| > / >> | write / append output to a file |
| chmod +x f | make a file runnable |
| ps, kill | see and stop programs |
| man? help | this tiny Linux has --help on most commands |
A virtual 32-bit PC (the v86 emulator, compiled to WebAssembly) booting a small Buildroot Linux with BusyBox: the same shell and core commands as Ubuntu or a server, minus a package manager and internet. Big distributions work the same way; this one just starts in seconds.