Ext2/3: The Linux File Systems
Most modern distros either use ext2 or ext3 by default. These are like the NTFS systems of Windows, except they are better designed and easier to understand, regarding file permissions. In Linux, no matter how many physical hard drives you have, everything is all connected by one partition: the “/” partition, equivalent to the “C:” partition of Windows.
Important: In Linux, the slashes go left down right up. In Windows, they left up right down. Do not confuse the two, because to Linux, a “” character is completely different than a “/” character.
In Linux, the path to your equivalent Windows “My Documents” folder is:
/Home/Username
In Linux, the path to your equivalent Windows “Program Files” folder is:
/usr/bin
In Linux, you never touch the /dev folder, unless you have a specific purpose, like ruining your installation.
Also, unlike Windows, Linux CD, floppy, and other media drives must be “mounted” before they can be used. Most modern distros do this automagically.
The GUI
The easiest part of Linux to understand is the GUI, because they are usually designed to emulate Windows. Each GUI comes with its own set of window management, control panel, and other tools, but they all fundamentally do the same thing: they control the X Window system.
The X Window system is like a BASH for your mouse, instead of your keyboard. Through X Window, you can directly access kernel resources without using a command interpreter such as BASH. However, the X Window system by itself is useless as a Mexican headless mule, and you need a GUI Window Manager, such as KDE or Gnome, to truly take advantage of X.
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