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The Linux Command Line Chapter Two Notes
These are notes from the book "The Linux Command Line" fifth edition that summarizes chapter two.
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CS 105 Computing Tools3. Overview of Linux File System
2 - Navigation
pwd: Print name of current working directory.
cd: Change directory
ls - List directory contents
Understanding the File System Tree
Like Windows, a Unix- like operating system such as Linux organizes its files that are
called hierarchical directory structure. This means they are organized in a tree-like pattern
of directories (sometimes called folders in other systems), which may contain files and
directories. The first directory in the file system is called the root directory. The root
directory contains files and subdirectories, which contain more files and subdirectories.
Unlike Windows, which has a separate file system tree for each storage device, Unix-like
systems such as Linux always have a single file system tree, regardless of how many
drives or storage devices are attached to the computer. Storage devices are attached (or
more correctly, mounted) at various points on the tree according to the whims of the
system administrator, the person (or people) responsible for the maintenance of the
system.
The Current Working Directory
Imagine that the file system is a maze shaped like an upside-down tree and we are able to
stand in the middle of it. At any given time, we are inside a single directory, and we can
see the files contained in the directory and the pathway to the directory above us (called
the parent directory) and any subdirectories below us. The directory we are standing in is
called the current working directory. To display the current working directory, we use the
pwd (print working directory) command.
When we first log in our system (or start a terminal emulator session) our current
working directory is set to our home directory. Each user account is given its own home
directory, and it is the only place a regular user to allowed to write files.
Listing the Contents of a Directory
To list the files and directories in the current working directory, we use the ls command.
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