Top Ten Concepts For Beginning Linux Users - Number 2, Directories

Linux fans are fond of saying that directories are really just another type of file. This statement can be somewhat misleading. We saw in a previous article that you create a dossier using a information editor. We will see later in this article how to create a directory. So what exactly is a Linux directory? A directory is a collection that may comprehend one or more directories, one or more files, or in circumstance be empty. You may think of a directory as a computerized case folder or loose-leaf notebook that contains dividers (themselves directories) and pages (files.) Just like a notebook leaf may not contain a divider, a Linux data may not contain a directory. Up to these days our comments about Linux directories hold for Windows directories as well. Straightaway let's capture a examine at some differences between these two systems. First come the naming conventions. Linux distinguishes between lower-case and upper-case characters in directory names. Microsoft
Windows does not. For example, Linux treats pay12june and Pay12june are as two different directories, as different as the directories pay12june and heighho. These directory names were used as list names in the previous article. While Linux does have some reserved directory and string names, in popular one cannot tell by the designation whether it is a document term or a directory name. So be careful. Linux helps you outside here ' the ls command that lists the contents of a given directory usually displays files and directories in different colors. Directories are hierarchical. They resemble a tree or a family tree. On the contrary unlike a tree (or Microsoft Windows) Linux has only one root. The root, designated as / lies at the top, rather than at the bottom, of the hierarchy. True underneath the root directory you will find many subdirectories. For example, the /home directory is a babe of / the root directory. The number and names of the first-level subdirect
ories vary from one version of Linux to another. For example, some Linux distributions embrace a /root directory while others do not. The /root directory (or subdirectory, both terms are used) is a infant of /, the actual root directory. The /home directory is an primary directory. It is divided into subdirectories, one for each user. We like to occupation with Damn Small Linux, a clear version of Linux that runs on the Windows desktop and requires only 50 Megabytes of disk space. Damn Small Linux automatically creates a user called dsl whose habitat directory is /home/dsl; a working area essentially reserved for this user. All versions of Linux subdivide the /home directory into user subdirectories applying this simple naming convention. Linux provides diverse commands for working with directories. For example, the mkdir command creates a directory. The rmdir command removes a directory, nevertheless in the simplest process only when it is empty. The cd command cha
nges the working directory, the directory in which you are positioned. The pwd (print working directory) command displays (not prints) the working directory. Beginners should application this command a quantity to reduce errors. For example, if you, as the dsl user, think you are positioned in the /home/dsl directory however in naked truth are positioned in the / directory you won't be able save your files with a simple command. Why? Since you lack the requisite permission, the subject of our succeeding article. Full text: http://computerandtechnologies.com/computers-and-technology/news_2008-05-02-17-00-03-311.html