On Fri, 7 Sep 2001 14:40:29 -0700 (PDT) Peter Rymshaw <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> insightfully noted: PR> I'm overwelmed with the combination of newness and PR> choice in this Linux world, although it's generally PR> what I hoped for and I assume that it will just take PR> time. ================ Keep with it. the reward are well worth it!! Welcome :o) ================ PR> PR> But one thing that I think is getting in my way is the PR> file system structure. First, I can't identify what PR> kind of file something is by its extension. Second, I PR> don't know what kinds of files belong in etc say, or PR> bin, or whichever. If it's an executable, should be be PR> in home/bin, user bin, home/peter, ...? And what is PR> Lib? I thought at first that this was a library PR> section for documents, but see that it seems to be for PR> certain kinds of executables (files that other files PR> need?) ======================== Most basic Linux books will give you descriptions of what the major directories are for. /etc is usually for configuration files the system needs. /bin is for binaries (executables) ====================== PR> PR> Some Linux "basic" books that I've seen imply that you PR> can put things wherever you want, "That's part of the PR> beauty of ..." PR> PR> I've downloaded a couple of programs already and don't PR> have any sense of where I should be putting the PR> download, and then where to expand it. ================== Typically third party programs go in either /usr/local or /opt (different distros have been doing this differently. ================= PR> PR> Surprisingly (to me), I have not found any description PR> anywhere of what the default, or standard, or even PR> common file system layouts are. I've tried to search PR> arount and see where the different parts of existing PR> programs are located, but that doesn't seem to work PR> for me. PR> PR> Back to file extensions, etc, how do you know what PR> kind of file you have before you if you select it? PR> Properties doesn't tell you anything, and if I click PR> on it and it is not a text file I get an Open With... PR> That's just what I don't know. ===================== Still thinking very much in a windows mindset. Keep reading documentation, man pages, and get some good books. *Running Linux* by Welsh, et. al. published by O'Reilly is very good. *Linux in a Nutshell*, another O'Reilly publication is also quite good. Mike -- "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." --Benjamin Franklin _________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com
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