you all have heard over and over again "windows user switched to linux". im no different and i have a lame question to ask.

i try to relate a lot of the directories in linux to windows. like "My Documents" is sort of similar to /home/whatever and / is similar to "C:".

when i am trying to install programs for windows they go in the obvious "Program Files" (yes the simplicity is nice, but i know that once use to it linux is just as easy). i am going to assume that most programs are installed somewhere in the /usr ?

can someone clarify?

sorry for the ultimate newbishness. i have read tutorials and such, but i still havent found one that answers the questions like that. thanks in advance!

it's a bad subject.... Linux may share libraries and have run time dependencies just like Linux! (yet no one wants to talk about it)

i try my best to tell you my opinion:-
Due to linux have too many vendor, and all the software developers develop decentralize, so it is hard to have a standard. Below is just some concept

linux - windows
=================
/ my computer (include C:,D:,E:,F: usb, and everything)
/home c:\documents and setting\
/usr, /opt c:\program files
/usr/lib,/lib c:\windows, c:\windows\system32 (all dll, ocx files)
/proc everything inside memory, like processor status, battery status, partitions
/dev device manager
/etc windows registry (all software setting place here)
/bin,/sbin c:\windows\system32 (only system .exe,.com file)
/var maybe a place for you to put database, temporary files and etc
/boot who know where? maybe at c:\autoexec.com?, c:\windows\system32? or etc...

remember, above is only a very rough ideal, the detail is much more complicated.
So much difference between windows and linux. In windows you won't see a file represent a videocard, a webcam, a cdrom, processor, entire hard disk.
In linux everything is a file, file, files. So, please use more linux then your understand.

wow! thank you. that rough idea actually smoothed some things out for me.
the more i play around with it and use it the more im sure ill understand

thanks,

sweet explanation kstan . Phoenix ever tried Gobolinux ? It is an intent of changing out the whole mentioned system, and by "accident" it is somehow organized a bit like Windows.

That absolutely makes no sense at all. One of our rules is to post constructively, if you don't have anything constructive to say, please skip on to the next thread.

somebody been scold?

Anyway, I want to add in more details,
eventhough the /etc is some place we but the setting, however in linux we always download source code from internet and recompile our self. So, the directory we normally as below:-
/usr/src a folder to place source code(No same thing in windows)
/usr/local a folder like program files, majority of new software which you compile yourself probably put here.
inside here there is much sub folder which you familiar, like etc, bin, usr. So, this folder similar
like c:\program files too

Ks

If you want to learn more about the standard to which most major distro's adhere, check out this: http://www.pathname.com/fhs

good place..