hello Saqeb, I finally got through the linux commands and how to use emacs to read the shell. I can now get the listing of my directory by ls and also use all the commands. However I want to know one thing. how to clear the buffer. I keep on giving commands and I want to give the clear command as well. But I can't find a way to clear the emacs buffer. secondly I want to know as to how can I read the man pages for a perticular command in the emacs buffer. I typed m-x and then shell. Then I type man ls for example then what next. And again after I finish reading the man page how to clear the screen. Can I read man pages one by one? thanks, Krishnakant.