BU | Computing Web | Tutorials | Unix and Linux Tutorials

Classes are held in Room B25, 111 Cummington Street.
Questions or cancellations to 353-2784 or acs-tutorials@bu.edu

Introduction to SAS on ACS (via Windows)

Course 4070

(One-hour, hands-on tutorial; each session limited to first 32. Registration optional: register online.)

SAS (Statistical Analysis System) is one of the most powerful statistical packages available on any computer platform. This tutorial will introduce you to SAS on ACS.

Benefits: After completing this tutorial, you will be able to:

access SAS on ACS on campus and remotely via Windows
create, edit, and save program files containing SAS commands
obtain printed output
create, run, and modify your own programs
find more information on advanced statistical procedures using SAS on ACS

Prerequisite:

Getting Started with UNIX (Course 4000) or Getting Started with UNIX, Accelerated Version (Course 4005) or equivalent basic UNIX experience

Course Coordinator: Jack Chan

Instructor: Jack Chan

Lab Instructors: Consulting Services Student Consultants

Meeting Place: MCS B25, 111 Cummington Street

Please see meeting times on our schedule and registration page. Please note: Viewing our tutorial schedule now requires that you provide a BU login name and Kerberos password. If you do not have one, please read our instructions for obtaining one.

Introduction to SAS on ACS (via Macintosh)

Course 4071

(One-hour, hands-on tutorial; each session limited to first 32. Registration optional: register online.)

SAS (Statistical Analysis System) is one of the most powerful statistical packages available on any computer platform. This tutorial will introduce you to SAS on ACS.

Benefits: After completing this tutorial, you will be able to:

access SAS on ACS on campus and remotely via MacOS
create, edit, and save program files containing SAS commands
obtain printed output
create, run, and modify your own programs
find more information on advanced statistical procedures using SAS on ACS

Prerequisite:

Getting Started with UNIX (Course 4000) or Getting Started with UNIX, Accelerated Version (Course 4005) or equivalent basic UNIX experience

Course Coordinator: Jack Chan

Instructor: Jack Chan

Lab Instructors: Consulting Services Student Consultants

Meeting Place: MCS B25, 111 Cummington Street

Getting Started with SPSS

Course 4060

(One-hour, hands-on tutorial; limited to first 32. Registration optional: register online.)

SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) is a widely used program for analyzing data. SPSS uses windows and dialog boxes to manipulate data and perform statistical analyses. This hands-on tutorial will introduce you to the basics of SPSS and will give you one hours' practice using SPSS on ACS.

Benefits: After completing this tutorial, you will be able to:

enter data into SPSS
use SPSS to transform data
use SPSS to perform basic statistical analyses

Course Coordinator: Jack Chan

Instructor: Jack Chan

Lab Instructors: Consulting Services Student Consultants

Meeting Place: MCS B25, 111 Cummington Street

Getting Started with UNIX

Course 4000

(Two-hour, hands-on. Registration required; register online.)

Long favored in higher education, UNIX is also one of the most popular operating systems in the scientific and business communities. It is available to all students, faculty, and staff on the ACS cluster, the Office of Information Technology's open-access computing platform, as well as on many Sun, SGI, DEC, and IBM computers on campus. This introductory tutorial is for those with little or no UNIX experience and introduces you to basic concepts and operations that will prepare you for other UNIX tutorials.

Benefits: After completing this tutorial, you will be able to:

log on to a UNIX machine from an X terminal or PC running an X Windows emulator
view, print, copy, rename, and remove files
modify UNIX file permissions
create directories to organize your files
use basic commands in Emacs to create and modify text files
read UNIX man pages and access Web-based help information

Course Coordinator: Sean Pfeiffer

Instructors: Kenneth Burns, Tobias Drewry, Timothy Kohl
Lab Instructors: Consulting Services Student Consultants

Meeting Place: MCS B25, 111 Cummington Street

Getting Started with UNIX, Accelerated Version

Course 4005

(One-hour lecture/demonstration. Registration required; register online.)

This fast-paced lecture covers all of the material in the standard, two-hour Getting Started with UNIX (Course 4000) in one hour. It is intended for those who are familiar with at least one timesharing computer operating system, are comfortable using timesharing computers and discussing computing concepts, and need only a cursory exposition of the material in order to begin using UNIX. Note: This highly accelerated version eliminates the hands-on labs and detailed explanations of the standard tutorial and allows less time for questions.

Benefits: After completing this tutorial you will be able to:

log on to a UNIX machine from an X terminal or PC running an X Windows emulator
view, print, copy, rename, and remove files
modify UNIX file permissions
create directories to organize your files
use basic commands in Emacs to create and modify text files
read UNIX man pages and access Web-based help information

Course Coordinator: Sean Pfeiffer

Instructors: Kenneth Burns, Tobias Drewry, Timothy Kohl
Meeting Place: MCS B25, 111 Cummington Street

Installing BU Linux

Course 4010

(Two hour, hands-on tutorial. Registration required; register online.)

Linux is an increasingly popular, freely-available UNIX-like operating system. At Boston University, we have our own customized and enhanced version. This tutorial will introduce BU Linux, and demonstrate how to install it on a desktop computer.

Benefits: After completing this tutorial, you will be able to:

install BU Linux 5.0
use basic administrative tools
browse the Web, write papers, and perform other typical desktop computer work
use BU Linux in your office, dorm room, or computer lab

Course Coordinator: Scott Macomber and Matthew Miller

Instructors: Scott Macomber, Matthew Miller
Meeting Place: MCS B25, 111 Cummington Street

Doing More with BU Linux

Course 4015

(Two hour, hands-on tutorial. Registration required; register online.)

Continuing on from "Installing BU Linux," this tutorial is designed mostly for Windows and/or MacIntosh users who have recently installed BU Linux and are wondering, "Okay what should I do next?"

Benefits: Introductions to:

Using System Tools and System Settings
Updating packages
Addressing security isssues
Installing software
Setting up printers
Connecting to other machines
Using various applications, eg. linux mail tools, word processors, browsers, graphics and editors (evolution, openoffice, firefox, gimp, emacs and vi)

Prerequisites:

Installing BU Linux (Course 4010) or equivalent. Assumes you have already installed BU Linux and understand the basic topics covered in that tutorial.

Recommended:

An understanding of the basic concepts and operations of UNIX is very useful. First attending the tutorial Getting Started with UNIX (Course 4000) or equivalent is recommended.

Course Coordinator: Scott Macomber and Matthew Miller

Instructors: Scott Macomber, Matthew Miller
Meeting Place: MCS B25, 111 Cummington Street

Introductory Perl

Course 4080

(Two-hour, hands-on tutorial; limited to first 16. Registration required; register online.)

Combining elements of C, shell scripts, as well as various text-processing utilities such as sed and awk, Perl is one of the most powerful programming languages. This tutorial will introduce you to the syntax and features of Perl.

Benefits: After completing this tutorial, you will be able to:

understand how to use Perl data types, control structures, and I/O facilities
understand how to use some of the special features of Perl such as regular expressions
write basic Perl scripts

Prerequisites:

Familiarity with a programming language; UNIX experience; familiarity with a text editor such as vi, Emacs, or Pico

Course Coordinator: Timothy Kohl

Instructor: Timothy Kohl

Meeting Place: MCS B25, 111 Cummington Street

Intermediate Perl

Course 4085

(Two-hour, hands-on tutorial offered twice; limited to first 16. Registration required; register online.)

This tutorial introduces you to more Perl language features.

Benefits: After completing this tutorial, you will be able to:

understand how to use more advanced Perl data types, complex control structures, and advanced I/O facilities
understand how to write functions so as to make your Perl programs modular
understand how to have your programs interact with the operating system

Prerequisites:

Familiarity with a programming language; UNIX experience; familiarity with a text editor such as vi, Emacs, or Pico; Introductory Perl (Course 4080) or equivalent experience

Course Coordinator: Timothy Kohl

Instructor: Timothy Kohl

Meeting Place: MCS B25, 111 Cummington Street

Advanced Perl

Course 4090

(Two-hour, hands-on tutorial offered twice; limited to first 16. Registration required; register online.)

You will learn some of Perl's object-oriented features. We shall also discuss the extended functionality provided by Perl modules.

Benefits: After completing this tutorial, you will be able to:

Understand how to use some of Perl's object-oriented features
Understand how Perl modules work

Prerequisites:

Familiarity with a programming language; UNIX experience; familiarity with a text editor such as vi, Emacs, or Pico; Introductory Perl (Course 4080) or equivalent experience; Intermediate Perl (Course 4085) or equivalent experience.

Course Coordinator: Timothy Kohl

Instructor: Timothy Kohl

Meeting Place: MCS B25, 111 Cummington Street