Ians Teach yourself Puppy in 24 mins
The directory structure is organized like this:
/ = root - The top of the tree ~ All directories decend from here.
bin = Binary directory. This normally holds executable files, in Puppy it contains many links to executable files.
dev = Device directory. Contains files used to access hardware devices on the computer. Also has links.
etc = All the other stuff. Contains configuration files for the stuff running in Linux.
lib = Library. These are system libraries used by many Linux programs.
lost+found = Lost&Found. Initally empty but during disk checking files may be created here.
mnt = Mount. This is a directory where partitions, file systems, and other devices can be attached to the tree so as to be accessable from Linux.
proc = Process. This contains virtual system files related to hardware and software statistics.
root = Root. This is the home directory of the administrator or superuser account.
sbin = System binary. The same as the bin account but is usually reserved for system administration programs.
tmp = Temporary. This is usually where programs store temporary files.
usr = User. Usually used (stuck on a word again) to store user-related files and programs. In Puppy contains almost every thing.
var = Variable. This usually stores files that may change over time such as the printer spool files and log files.
So looking at the Linux Puppy tree you will see:
/ bin
dev
etc
lib
lost+found
mnt
proc
root
sbin
tmp
usr
var
dev
etc
lib
lost+found
mnt
proc
root
sbin
tmp
usr
var
To look deeper into the whole structure of Linux go to the web and try the Linux HowTo pages∞ or the Linux Home∞ page documentation.
As for the command line this can be opened in Puppy by clicking on the rxvt icon on the desktop, this will open a virtual terminal which is similar to the DOS prompt found in WINDOWS.
For anyone familiar with DOS the virtual terminal serves the same purpose.
When the window opens you are presented with a prompt at the command line, you just type in commands hit enter (or return) and bingo! the commands will be executed (if they are valid that is).
Some commands to try are:
ls = List the current directory. This can be extended by specifying the directory to be shown i.e.
# ls Will display the directory you are in
# ls / Will display the whole tree system
# ls /bin Will display the bin directory
# ls / Will display the whole tree system
# ls /bin Will display the bin directory
and so on
pwd = Print working directory: Will display the directory you are currently in i.e. (if you are in the root/bin directory)
# pwd
# /root/bin
# /root/bin
cd = Change directory. This one is easy, just enter the directory you want to move to i.e. (change to /etc directory)
# cd /etc
check to see if it worked
# pwd
# /etc
check to see if it worked
# pwd
# /etc
This is an expansion of the above and should only take 15mins.
Linux Shell & Commands
The Linux operating system is composed of many parts, two of which are the kernel and the shell.
The kernel is the main program that passes instructions to the Central Processor Unit ( CPU ) and the shell is the interface between the user and the kernel usually via the keyboard.
The user types commands on the keyboard and the shell passes these commands on to the kernel which in turn communicates with the CPU.
Below is a list of some of the main commands and their meanings. These commands are typed in a terminal at the command line. The shell has a program history that shows you the previous commands you have typed into a terminal, much like the DOS keystroke right arrow that displays the previous command you used unlike Linux which shows all your previous commands by using the up and down arrow keys. This saves time if you are reusing certain commands a lot.
Normally Linux retains this history when you close the terminal but Puppy does not.
cat Concatenate or combine files into one big file and print the result to standard output. cat can be used to read the contents of a text file in a terminal for example to read the contents of the file /etc/hosts:
cat /etc/host.conf produces the output
order hosts, bind
multi on
multi on
chmod Change Mode or change permissions of a file or directory. Permissions are assigned as read write and execute. Each permission has a number that can be used to set permissions for the owner of the file, the group the owner belongs to and any other users, these numbers are, r(ead) = 4, w(rite) = 2 and e(xecute) = 1 and they are indicated as rwx.
To set read, write and execute permissions for everyone on the file myfile using chmod you would type the following:
chmod 777 myfile and if you did a long listing on myfile:
ls l myfile you would get the output:
- rwxrwxrwx
Chmod can also be used another way using the modes ugoa, (user, group, owner, all), with = and + as well as rwx.
To make a file executable by all users:
chmod a+x myfile
clear Clears the screen, easy one.
cp Copy file1 to file2, if you are not in the directory you wish to copy the file from you must give the whole file path.
You must also use the full destination path. For example, to copy myfile in /root/my-applications to /usr/share/myfile2:
cp /root/my-applications/myfile /usr/share/myfile2
df Disk Free, prints the amount of used and free disk space.
du Disk usage, prints the size of files and directories.
fdisk This is a utility used to create hard disk partitions and configure how they are used, contains its own help file.
gzip Compress a file, adds a .gz extension to the file. The g stands for GNU ( Gnu is Not Unix).
gunzip Uncompresses a zipped up file.
halt Halts the system.
kill Stop a running process, you must know the process identity i.e. its running number.
Kill and killall should be handled with care.
mkdir Make directory, creates a new directory in the place indicated i.e.
mkdir /root/my-music
creates the directory my-music in the directory /root.
mke2fs Make extended 2nd filesystem, used to format a device such as a hard disk partition with an ext2 file system.
mount Attaches a filesystem to the main directory / so that it can be used.
The filesystem can be anything, such as a logical or physical device:
mount /dev/hda2
attaches the 1st hard drive 2nd partition to the system allowing it to be accessed as a filesystem.
mount /dev/fd0
does the same for the floppy drive.
mv Move, is used to rename or move files.
mv /root/myfile /root/oldmyfile
changes myfile to oldmyfile without moving it.
mv /root/myfile /tmp
moves myfile to /tmp directory where it becomes /tmp/myfile.
ping This is a command you can use to see if other computers on a network are reachable.
It is used in conjunction with a network address.
To see if the machine with the local network address 192.168.20.5 is reachable:
To see if the machine with the local network address 192.168.20.5 is reachable:
ping 192.168.20.5
ps Process status, prints information on processes that are running.
pwd Print working directory, tells you what directory you are currently in.
pwd
/root/Documents
rm Remove, delete files.
rmdir Remove directory, delete an empty directory.
tar Tape archive, creates a single archive file that contains many other files and is used to extract or list the files from same.
umount Unmount a previously mounted filesystem, it is umount not unmount.
These are just a selection of the many commands that you can use in Puppy, to see a full list go to Start, Help, Busy Box.
CategoryHowto