GETTING USED TO LINUX.

Hello world, numerous people find difficulty in navigating the LINUX O.S, but here is a great remedy for your nightmares.

Before you can freshen up to start using the Linux Operating System (OS) you need to be quite familiar with how to get around Linux. Here in this blog I will be showing you some basics you need to know for a better navigation around Linux. I will be clearing the air for about the Linux file system worksworks. I will also introduce to you GNOME, the graphical user interface that is used most with fedora and many other LINUX distributions. Finally, I show you the basics of setting up a LINUX user account.
In this blog I presume that you have plenty of experience with WINDOWS, so I focus on .ostly the differences between LINUX and WINDOWS, which unfortunately are many.

What is LINUX?

Before I dive into the details of actually using a LINUX system, you need to understand some basic differences between LINUX and WINDOWS, that will puzzle you at first. LINUX looks more a lot like WINDOWS, but underneath, it is very different. You won't have any trouble finding out how to point and click your way through the GNOME user interface, but before long, you will run into Linux file-naming conventions, terminal windows, configuration files, and a host of other significant differences.

Important differences between LINUX and WINDOWS.

Linux doesn't have a built-in graphical user interface (GUI) as Windows does. Instead, the GUI in Linux is provided by an optional component called the X Windows System. You can run LINUX without XWindow, in which case you interact with Linux by typing commands. If you prefer to use a GUI, you can install and run X Window.
X Window is split into two parts:

• A server component, called X Server, which handles the basic chores of managing multiple windows and providing graphics services for application programs.
• A user interface component, called a window manager, which provides user interface features such as menus, buttons, toolbars, a taskbar, and so on. Several different window managers are available, each with a different look and feel. The most popular is GNOME.
  

  Virtual consoles.

  
  Linux is a true multiuser operating system. This means that you can log on to Linux by using one user account and then log on by using a different account, so that you're logged on twice at the same time. You can switch back and forth between the different user sessions, and actions that you take in one session don' t affect any of your other sessions.
  In addition to an X Window client such as GNOME, Linux provides a traditional text-based environment called a console, through which you can enter Linux commands to perform any functions available in Linux.
  Because Linux is a multiuser system, it let's you work with more than one console. In fact, you actually have six virtual consoles at your disposal. You can switch to a particular virtual console by pressing Ctrl+Alt+F1 through F6.
  When a graphical user interface such as GNOME is running, you can switch to it by pressing Ctrl+Alt+F7
  

  Understanding the file system.

  
  The Linux file system is a bit different from the Windows file system. Two of the most obvious differences are actually superficial:
• Linux uses forward slashes rather than backward slashes to separate directories. Thus, /home/doug is a valid path in Linux while \Windows\System32 is a valid path in Windows.
• Linux filenames don't use extensions. You can use periods within a filename, but unlike Windows, the final period doesn't identify a file edtension.
  The fundamental difference between the Like Linux and Windows file system is that Linux treats everything in the entire system as a file, and it oorganises everything into one gitantic tree that of begins at a single root. Everything even floppy diskettes, hard drives, serial ports, and Ethernet adapters are all treated as files.
• The root of the Linux file system is the root partition from which the operating system boots. Additional partitions, including other devices that support file systems such as CD-ROM drives, floppy drives, or drives accessed over the network, can be grafted into the tree as directories called Filesystem Hierarchy Standard(FHS). This standard spells out which directories a Linux file system should have. Because most Linux systems comform to this standard, you can trust the key files will be found in this same place.
  

  Directories in the Linux File System.

  
  Before you can freshen up to start using the Linux Operating System (OS) you need to be quite familiar with how to get around Linux. Here in this blog I will be showing you some basics you need to know for a better navigation around Linux. I will be clearing the air for about the Linux file system worksworks. I will also introduce to you GNOME, the graphical user interface that is used most with fedora and many other LINUX distributions. Finally, I show you the basics of setting up a LINUX user account.
  In this blog I presume that you have plenty of experience with WINDOWS, so I focus on .ostly the differences between LINUX and WINDOWS, which unfortunately are many.

What is LINUX?

Before I dive into the details of actually using a LINUX system, you need to understand some basic differences between LINUX and WINDOWS, that will puzzle you at first. LINUX looks more a lot like WINDOWS, but underneath, it is very different. You won't have any trouble finding out how to point and click your way through the GNOME user interface, but before long, you will run into Linux file-naming conventions, terminal windows, configuration files, and a host of other significant differences.

Important differences between LINUX and WINDOWS.

Linux doesn't have a built-in graphical user interface (GUI) as Windows does. Instead, the GUI in Linux is provided by an optional component called the X Windows System. You can run LINUX without XWindow, in which case you interact with Linux by typing commands. If you prefer to use a GUI, you can install and run X Window.
X Window is split into two parts:

• A server component, called X Server, which handles the basic chores of managing multiple windows and providing graphics services for application programs.
• A user interface component, called a window manager, which provides user interface features such as menus, buttons, toolbars, a taskbar, and so on. Several different window managers are available, each with a different look and feel. The most popular is GNOME.
  

  Virtual consoles.

  
  Linux is a true multiuser operating system. This means that you can log on to Linux by using one user account and then log on by using a different account, so that you're logged on twice at the same time. You can switch back and forth between the different user sessions, and actions that you take in one session don' t affect any of your other sessions.
  In addition to an X Window client such as GNOME, Linux provides a traditional text-based environment called a console, through which you can enter Linux commands to perform any functions available in Linux.
  Because Linux is a multiuser system, it let's you work with more than one console. In fact, you actually have six virtual consoles at your disposal. You can switch to a particular virtual console by pressing Ctrl+Alt+F1 through F6.
  When a graphical user interface such as GNOME is running, you can switch to it by pressing Ctrl+Alt+F7

Understanding the file system.

The Linux file system is a bit different from the Windows file system. Two of the most obvious differences are actually superficial:

• Linux uses forward slashes rather than backward slashes to separate directories. Thus, /home/doug is a valid path in Linux while \Windows\System32 is a valid path in Windows.
• Linux filenames don't use extensions. You can use periods within a filename, but unlike Windows, the final period doesn't identify a file edtension.
  The fundamental difference between the Like Linux and Windows file system is that Linux treats everything in the entire system as a file, and it oorganises everything into one gitantic tree that of begins at a single root. Everything even floppy diskettes, hard drives, serial ports, and Ethernet adapters are all treated as files.
• The root of the Linux file system is the root partition from which the operating system boots. Additional partitions, including other devices that support file systems such as CD-ROM drives, floppy drives, or drives accessed over the network, can be grafted into the tree as directories called Filesystem Hierarchy Standard(FHS). This standard spells out which directories a Linux file system should have. Because most Linux systems comform to this standard, you can trust the key files will be found in this same place.

Directories in the Linux File System.

Directory	Description
/bin	Essential command binaries
/boot	Static files of the boot loader
/dev	Devices
/etc	Configuration files for the local computer
/home	Home directories for users
/bin	Essential command binaries
/lib	Shared libraries and Kernel modules
/mnt	Mount point for file systems mounted temporarly
/opt	Add-on applications and packages
/root	Home directory for the root user
/sbin	Essential System binaries
/temp	Temporary files
/usr	Read-only, shared files such as binaries for user commands and libraries
/var	Variable data files
/mnt	Mount point for file systems mounted temporarly
/opt	Add-on applications and packages
/root	Home directory for the root user
/sbin	Essential System binaries
/temp	Temporary files
/usr	Read-only, shared files such as binaries for user commands and libraries
/var	Variable data files