The command line includes a powerful history feature that can make life much easier. To see the recently typed commands, type history. This simply dumps to the screen a hidden file in your /home directory called .bash_history where up to 1,000 commands are recorded. Because this list will scroll off the screen when listed, it’s a good idea to pipe the output into a text reader, such as less:

 $ history|less 

                                To reuse one of your commands, at the command prompt type an exclamation mark ( !; known as a bang in bash-speak) and then the number alongside the entry in the history list. For example, on my system, I noted when viewing the history list that the command cp /etc/fstab ~ /Desktop was command 591. To use it again, I typed !591 at the command prompt. If you ever need to simply repeat a command you’ve just used, type two exclamation marks— !!. 

To actively rifle through your command history, hit Ctrl + r and then start typing the command in which you’re interested. The prompt will “autocomplete” as you type. To use the command, hit Enter . To edit it before using it, hit Esc , and then make your changes. 

                     Hitting the up and down cursor keys will also let you move through the most recently typed commands. Just hit Enter when you find the one you want to reuse.

The blue version of Linux Mint comes in a KDE flavour, but is there much point to choosing it over Kubuntu

 The cycle for the Linux Mint release has become fairly standard now, with the standard version coming shortly after the initial Ubuntu release, followed some time later by the Xfce and KDE versions. While both KDE  and Xfce are actually initially available to the original Mint release, these versions are tweaked to work just that little bit better in Mint than the Kubuntu or Xubuntu Desktop package available in the repos. 

                        Linux Mint KDE comes on top of the same Ubuntu 12.10 base as the standard Linux Mint 14, which works using Linux kernel 3.5, and includes a lot of updated cloud compatibility. One of Mint’s big projects, the MDM Display Manager, is not present in this release; instead it relies on KDM for the windows manager. However, the software manager uses a similar base. As in the normal Mint, the software manager no longer uses Aptdaemon and instead has its own Apt client now. 

                        This is a good thing, as the previous version’s software manager had the propensity to crash or freeze every now and then. Installation of the distro is different from the usual Ubuntu affair, with a draklive-esque installer that takes you through all the necessary setup for the system. Installation is pretty quick and the process allows you the usual customisation options to make sure your PC is configured to your liking.

                          Like Kubuntu, Mint KDE is on KDE 4.9. Compared to the last version, there are a lot of updates to Dolphin, KDE’s file manager, which includes new navigation buttons such as backwards and forwards, improved search, and better displaying of  metadata. There are some other general improvements aswell, with increasing support for the Kickoff menu and betteractivity integration in the desktop. 

                               As usual, KDE is a prettygreat desktop environment to use, with a lot of stylistic flairto the design allowing for some interesting features such asthe customisable desktop folder and activities menu. Thecustomisation for KDE is absolutely fantastic, allowing you toconfigure just about every part of the desktop to your exactspecification. 

                        Context-sensitive settings menus attached toeach element of the desktop UI let you tweak to your heart’scontent: icon size, font size, border, displayed content etc. However, these same features are available in Kubuntuand have been for months before Linux Mint KDE came outOnce again we’ve come to the question – is Linux Mint KDEworth it over Kubuntu? 

                      The best use case we can come upwith is if you switch a lot between Cinnamon and KDE on LinuxMint and don’t like it when installing the kubuntu-desktoppackage starts messing around with Plymouth and otherboot-time displays. It also fits a little more neatly in with theMint 14 aesthetic, having access to the same themes as thenormal version.

                   Also, you can easily start with Mint 14 KDE which arguably has a better login manager, and then install Cinnamon alongside it. This doesn’t detract from the overall quality of the distro, though. It’s still fantastic and great to use, and is probably a better way to use KDE and Cinnamon together. But if you’re a fan of KDE, you’ve likely been using Kubuntu for a few months before it’s even released. Although at least the software manager is much better in Mint than Kubuntu .

The Live USB Creator comes under two entries in Ubuntu, and both are called the Ubuntu Live Disc Creator

 This application is not a solely developed Ubuntu product, however, and was originally created as just a GTK-compliant graphical tool for creating live-booting USB sticks. The software works somewhat similarly to UNetbootin, but there are some caveats to its use. The interface is still fairly simple, allowing you to add your own images to a list to then burn to USB storage. 

                     You can add multiple distros to this list, although you can only have one actually installed to the stick you want to use. This  seems a little odd, as it doesn’t remember what  images you chose when it was last open, so it’s not like it’s a quick select list or anything. Either way, you can also add persistent storage when installing the ISOs, although you’re forced to use a minimum of 1GB. 

                      For a smaller storage space and a CD-sized ISO, it’s mostly fine, but there’s no choice to turn off the added space. Image selection is where it starts to get limited, though. While we don’t expect every tool to have a selection of distros like UNetbootin to download, we do want them to be able to install all the IMGs and ISOs we throw at it.

                        Live USB Creator only seems to be able to accept images for Debian- and Ubuntu-based systems. While this perhaps makes sense for software that was originally created for Debian/Ubuntu systems, what doesn’t make sense is that we couldn’t get any Debian distro to actually install.  On top of that, Live USB Creator would complain at just about every turn. USB not plugged in, error message; USB not formatted properly, error message; try to format the USB, error message… 

                   After trying to wipe the storage in the app a couple of times before doing it manually, it became clear that the instance of the creator was not being properly exited. When actually installing the software, it radically slowed down the system. The results for Ubuntu-based distros were fine. However, it’s not better than UNetbootin in any way and offers absolutely no extras.

Just because it’s popular doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the best

uNetbootin is near enough the standard by which we’re comparing all of these tools – a popular, simple tool used across all platforms to put a single image file onto usB storage and make it bootable. It’s more than likely that if you’ve made a live USB of some kind in the past, you probably used this. 

             So what makes it so great in the first place, and does it stand up to the rest of the competition? One of its biggest strengths is the sheer simplicity of the graphical interface. The start screen offers two options: download an ISO from a selection of Linux distributions directly via UNetbootin, or select your own image file. 

                         The downloadable selection of ISOs is a little limited: the package for it on Ubuntu 12.10, for example, doesn’t contain a download link for 12.10 itself; same with other modern distros. You can of course download more up-to-date versions of UNetbootin, but it’ll still only include the most popular distros. Sure, the list does have quite a few of them, but it’s by no means a complete list.

                                                        Once you’ve selected a distribution, you may also have the option to add some persistent storage for the install. Unfortunately though, it’s dependent on the distro being Ubuntu-based (or Ubuntu itself). Either way, you have full control over whether or not you want no extra storage or to fill up the USB device. 

               This extra storage is not immediately accessible from a USB stick if you just plug it into another operating system,  since it is locked inside a specific file that is mounted during boot. The installation of the files can be fairly quick, although this is related to the size of the image you’re trying to use, and can also be affected by your hardware. 

             We found that it can take longer to set up the actual persistent storage than it does to add an image of the same size. Booting up the image is about the same speed as with a CD or DVD, and UNetbootin even adds its own boot menu, allowing you to choose the options from the image or to boot straight from the  hard drive.