Hi guys, just trying to get my head around the terminal.
When do I need a / before my pathname? I thought / meant root? So if I'm anywhere other than root, I don't need a / before my pathname

reptiles/snakes/cobras
Or do I have to put
/reptiles/snake/cobras

Can someone please Xperia,Ian when I need to use the / command before the pathnames
Thanks guys

Pathnames that begin with / are absolute paths, regardless in which directory you currently are they are always pointing to the same file/directory. Pathnames without the leading / are relative to the current directory you are currently in.

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Deep breath.

The slash indicates you are going to the top of the tree, else the terminal thinks it should start looking for the path where you are.

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When you place "/" before the path, it specifies an absolute path; ie the path is read from the root partition ("/" not "/root" which is $HOME for root) rather than a relative path which is read from the current working directory.

So if you were in your user's home directory, this would specify /bin:
Whereas this would specify ~/bin:
There's a much better explanation given here:
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...-paths-256350/

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You're right, / is root. So you'd use root if you're navigating to a path that begins from root..

If you imagine the file structure like a descending pyramid in the following example:

/
/var
/var/log

Then / is root, then var is within root, and log is within var which is in root...

So, when to use the /

If you're located anywhere in the filesystem other than the parent folder. So if your currently sitting inside /var then you can just type cd log and you will get to the log directory.

If you're anywhere else, you'll need to type cd /var/log... unless we complicate matters by using ../.. or such like..

If you're currently sat in /var/log and you wanted to change to the root directory you could type cd ../.. (.. meaning one step below) so in this example changing from /var/log to / would be two steps.. on this basis cd .. would take you to /var.

I hope that makes more sense, but I'm sure someone else will be able to explain it better than me

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df -h will show you where everything is sitting. Sounds to me like you have home/username installed in root /. That is why everything starts from there.

If in home/username in terminal. If one uses cd to go a directory. Then the / is not needed.
The linux file structure layout in terminal and permissions were the 1st thing I bothered to learn
which made doing anything else in terminal easy peasy.

I look at the linux file structure like a building with rooms. Root is the building.
He is also the key holder for all locks in the building.
"cd" is a persons legs to walk around in the building. And open a door in the building.
ls"" is the flashlight to look around and see what is sitting in the room and it will even say
what is locked up and what is not. Depending on what switch you set th "ls" flashlight on.

http://ss64.com/bash/cd.html

http://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man1/ls.1.html

I am sure other users will cover this ground better than I. I walk around in terminal with no fear or
exasperation. YMMV from mine.

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"/" is the Linux equivalent of "C:\" in Windows. It references the root of the drive. This isn't technically accurate since each drive has its own "C:\", "D:\", "E:\", etc in Windows, while in Linux all drives/partitions are mounted in subdirectories of /, but for the purposes of this explanation, assuming one drive and one partition, it's a reasonable way to think about it.

You use "/" the same way you use "C:\", when you're referring to the absolute path of some file/directory. You leave it off when you're using the relative path to that file/directory.

You can think of it like giving somebody directions to your house. An absolute path would be like giving them your full address (123 Warlock Way, Coolcity, AB 12345). They can then look up this address in a mapping program to figure out how to get there from anywhere in the country. A relative path would be like giving them specific directions to get to your house from their house (go east on Canyon Blvd, turn left on Warlock Way, it's the 3rd house on the right).

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It might be worth pointing out that root may have multiple meanings.
1) root is the username for the admin account
2) it is also the home directory name of that account, located at /root
3) the root directory is the top level of the directory hierarchy as pointed out by others.
4) the root filesystem is the partition / hard drive that is mounted under the root directory, i.e. under /

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Great stuff guys , thank you very much. I will soak all this up.

Hi...

Ugh, could we change the title a bit to leave out the expletive?

It would be much appreciated.

EDIT: Thanks!

Regards...

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Hi! Have you seen this?

http://learnpythonthehardway.org/book/appendixa.html

Your question's been covered pretty well, but I like that web page because the info you're probably studying is all in one place there, so you don't have to sift through silly things like YouTube videos and so on.