Finding your way.
WHAT THE STRUCTURE IS
A single tree starting at the root, written as a forward slash.
WHAT THERE IS NO CONCEPT OF
Drive letters.
WHAT THE KEY DIRECTORIES ARE
Home directories for users Configuration, under etc Programs, under bin and sbin Variable data and logs, under var Temporary files, under tmp
WHAT pwd DOES
Prints where you currently are.
WHAT cd DOES
Changes directory.
WHAT cd WITH NO ARGUMENT DOES
Returns to your home directory.
WHAT THE SHORTCUTS ARE
A single dot means here Two dots mean the directory above A tilde means your home directory A dash returns to where you were last
WHAT ls DOES
Lists what is in a directory.
WHAT THE USEFUL OPTIONS ARE
Long format, showing permissions, owner, size and date All files, including hidden ones Human-readable sizes Sorted by time
WHAT A HIDDEN FILE IS
One whose name begins with a dot.
WHY THEY MATTER
Most configuration lives in them.
WHAT AN ABSOLUTE PATH IS
One starting from the root.
WHAT A RELATIVE PATH IS
One starting from where you are.
WHAT TO PREFER IN SCRIPTS
Absolute paths, since the working directory may not be what you expect.
