Terminology

DalcorpSC · 07-29-2018, 04:22 PM

I'm a brand new linux mint user and was a windows user before. Used several versions of windows and got used to their terminology.
Switched to linux cause with windows the newer it got the more it ate up my memory and was always getting bogged down.

I'm having trouble understanding what the simple things mean. I read the explanation of what mount/umount means here. It was great and now I know what it means. When I get a list together I'll ask questions.

It is great there is a place you can ask questions and get answers.

m.a.l.'s pa · 07-29-2018, 04:32 PM

This takes me back to learning to think "directory" instead of "folder". Many Linux users use the two words interchangeably, though.

TheEzekielProject · 07-29-2018, 05:16 PM

Just so you are aware, you can generally type

Code:

man <command name>

to find out all about it. e.g.

Code:

man mount

in a terminal.

Welcome to the Wonderful World of Linux!

Good luck!

syg00 · 07-29-2018, 06:02 PM

And to save some angst, use q (as in quit) to exit the manpage.
There is a manpage for man itself of course.

There's gotta be a rosetta stone page somewhere on the net for Win/Linux terminology.

frankbell · 07-29-2018, 08:02 PM

This site has some nice tutorials and references: https://www.lifewire.com/learn-how-linux-4102755

Welcome to LQ.

chrism01 · 07-29-2018, 09:53 PM

... and if you prefer a web version http://linux.die.net/man/

Note however that the defintive version is whatever is shipped on your system. You can try 'apropos <subject> ' which is really 'man -k <subject>'

Soadyheid · 07-30-2018, 08:07 AM

@syg00

Quote:

There's gotta be a rosetta stone page somewhere on the net for Win/Linux terminology.

Found this for Unix, enlightening but nae Windows!

This for Windows/Ubuntu/MacOS.

Hope it helps!

Play Bonny!

hazel · 07-30-2018, 08:48 AM

I made a little Linux dictionary for myself, which I would be happy to share, but I can't upload it here because the attachments manager doesn't allow tarballs

I'm pretty sure it used to do so.

BenTrabetere · 07-30-2018, 10:47 AM

Linux Mint has a hidden gem - the GNOME help viewer, Yelp. It is poorly documented, and almost everything I learned about it was by accident. One of those accidents was it can be launched from a terminal and used to view man-pages - I find it is much easier to read and navigate a man-page with Yelp than from the terminal output.

Code:

yelp man:<program>

For example, to view the man-page for mount, use

Code:

yelp man:mount

hazel · 07-30-2018, 11:28 AM

Got it! I've put it into one file, attached. You can replace the txt extension by html, then view in a browser.

syg00 · 07-30-2018, 08:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BenTrabetere

It is poorly documented, and almost everything I learned about it was by accident.

Maybe not just the documentation. On my system it takes quite a while to complete "exit" - I started to look at a strace but figured walking the dog would make more sense ...

frankbell · 07-30-2018, 09:16 PM

As sort of an afterthought, here are the two basic bits of Linux terminology that tantalized me the most when I started with Linux.

In Linux, you do not delete (del) a file, you remove (rm) it. There is a del command, but rm is preferred.

You do not rename (ren) a file, you move (mv) it from one name to another. Of course, you can also move it from one directory to another without renaming it. If you are moving it to another directory, be sure to include the trailing slash (/) at the end of the path, or you will be attempting to rename it to the directory's name.

Code:

mv [somefile] [/path/to/directory/]   <---moves file
mv [somefile] [/path/to/directory   <---tries to rename it "directory" located in [/path/to/]

Learn how to use the man (manual) pages. They are generally not very useful for learning and can't be thought of as tutorials in any sense, but they are excellent references. See man man for more.

JJJCR · 07-31-2018, 01:43 AM

shutdown now --> works pretty okay if you don't want your users to connect

Win is shutdown -s -f -t 03 a lot of parameters to remember

In Linux rm -rf \ if you don't want your system anymore

In Win format c: /q if you want to get rid of everything very quickly

In Linux quite important to remember "man" and "info" command.

hazel · 07-31-2018, 02:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frankbell

As sort of an afterthought, here are the two basic bits of Linux terminology that tantalized me the most when I started with Linux.

In Linux, you do not delete (del) a file, you remove (rm) it. There is a del command, but rm is preferred.

That's surely just a difference in the name.

Quote:

You do not rename (ren) a file, you move (mv) it from one name to another. Of course, you can also move it from one directory to another without renaming it.

That's a real difference. Using mv for both operations is an insight into what actually happens when you "move" a file. The file doesn't move (unless the new parent directory is on another drive), but its name and location (inode) is moved into another directory. Directories aren't really folders, they're indexes and Linux shows you that.

Quote:

If you are moving it to another directory, be sure to include the trailing slash (/) at the end of the path, or you will be attempting to rename it to the directory's name.

I never use a trailing slash. mv works perfectly well without it. It's smart enough to recognise if the destination is a directory, and it will then move the source file into it.

rknichols · 07-31-2018, 09:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hazel

Using mv for both operations is an insight into what actually happens when you "move" a file. The file doesn't move (unless the new parent directory is on another drive), but its name and location (inode) is moved into another directory. Directories aren't really folders, they're indexes and Linux shows you that.

The inode doesn't move, either. All that happens is that a link to the existing inode is added in the new directory, and the link in the old directory is removed.