Learning the Linux File System

[@xyzzx2454]

Your vids are the reason I'm passing my tests, THANK YOU

[@EzeeLinux]

Cool. Good luck! :)

[@jamesgfilm]

You have a class on Linux? Or is it like computer organization?

[@arcticjoe1142]

I want to know what you're studying, too (same as VeryCoolStuff). I have considered pursuing some sort of Linux certification.

[@MrHatoi]

Years ago when I was starting out with Linux this video helped me so much... It just came up in my recommended and watching it is bringing back so many memories. Great video!

[@jcallen3]

This video was recommended by my Linux instructor in my Intro to UNIX/Linux class and it was well worth the time. Thank you very much for a thorough explanation as well as the visual confirmation showing the file creations populating in the GUI from the CLI. Subscribed.

[@residentdog]

"thx for clicking the video" actually deserves a like

[@786MdRj]

Why we can think like that! He might want to see, how many are actively learning right?

[@nicoc6011]

Last night I watched bash commands and was an excellent class, great teacher you are! I’ll keep watching since you explain concepts very clearly. Thanks a lot. Got subscribed.

[@dehydratedwatr]

Im going to comment here because the actual video that inspired my switch has comments turned off. Thank you joe. You inspired me to make the switch to linux full time and I love it. Im still a beginner but now im 18 months in and thanks to what I learned from your channel, ive gotten to where I prefer to boot straight into the command line and my friends and family look at me like I'm a super nerd. I got called turbo brain today and all i wasn't doing was putting mint iso's on some flash drives to give to a friend who's laptop's resources wont allow him to run windows 8.

[@briandague4310]

Thank you for making this video, very informative about how to work with files in linux. Using the "touch" command to create a bunch of files while showing them open in the file browser is a great way of showing that the command-line and GUI are interacting with the same system. Neat little trick: If you want to get to the home directory, you can just type "cd", no need to type "cd ~".

[@EDreyer]

thanks! One of the longest youtube videos that I have watched, but switching form windows to ubuntu this helped a lot

[@dima8415]

Best howto and tutorial I ever imagined. VERY useful. Even after 7 years of linux

[@jeffreyplum5259]

One reason for so many directories was that Unix came from an era of tiny disks, by today's standards. One or a few important directories could fill a disk. Directories like /home ,/var and even /tmp, could need their own disks. It also allowed core system programs to be kept on syste m disks, often write protected. Data files were kept on their one disks. The Unix tree structure allowed the same overall structure to be common, while their may be one disk or dozens. Disks were physically larger, while not hold near as much data. They also could damage themselves rather easily. The file tree shows directories needed to start, run and fix the system are kept apart from common user programs. A nice video. thanks.

[@Bring_MeSunshine]

Brilliant Joe. I'm already knee deep into Linux, with Ubuntu, Fedora on physical machines and Kali and CentOS on VMs, but in all the tutorial stuff I have or have seen, no one has taken the time to introduce the file system in this way. I think they assume if you have your ass in gear enough to want to even try Linux, you must be aware, but it's not the case. OK, I have learnt a few things, but it's good to have another insight. Cheers

[@tombouie]

Very enlightening/enjoyable intro to linux filesys. Linux is like going for a ice cold swim. Until you get all the way in & really get all warmed up, it's absolutely mind numbing.

[@hotshot2472010]

great guide! i've been using linux for more than 10 years and from this video, i just found out that the USR directory doesn't mean user....wow! *Mind Blown*

[@jmtikka]

The original Unix system had two disks: one for the operating system (/) and the other for user home directories (/usr). When the operating system grew they had to move some stuff over to the other disks and so the various /usr/someting directories were born. At some point they could afford a third disk and then the user home directories were moved from /usr to /home. So "Unix System Resourses" and such are such backronyms with no actual meaning. The /usr directory was the original place for the home directories but the letters 'u', 's' and 'r' soon lost their original meaning.

[@RobertLock1978]

Exactly. I'm glad someone called this out.

[@oCMSo]

since i kinda use a setup like that now it's like nothing changed lol

[@balams2855]

Very educating. As i am from windows background.

[@lanceareadbhar]

I bet there were arguments to move the usr/something directories to the third disk and leave the original user data in /usr. I'm a little surprised they didn't do that.

[@Razumen]

@@lanceareadbhar These types of arguments are proof of the problems that will ensure Linux will never go mainstream.

[@jahtemg_6636]

Finally, someone who "reviews" linux, and actually uses it at as DESKTOP OS, OMG.

[@johnb1391]

Sounds like that kind of person is your Arch nemesis!

[@Jamie-yp7qz]

@Steven Tsakiris Scratch that, I'm gonna go eat a Mint.

[@alexyu9758]

Why not? I'm even using it on my phone.

[@Quephara]

@IHasNoLife Productions dammit Karen!

[@thearcheduck8746]

@IHasNoLife Productions Not a big fan of mints, so I'll just go off into the solus system.

[@PoeLemic]

Very help intro. You and Chris Titus are helping me feel comfortable enough to try and start using Linux as a daily driver.

[@Retroglide42]

Found this a really interesting and useful video. I don't get to use my Linux PC much as it's still at my parents house, but I'm loving learning how to use Linux and the differences with Windows. Many thanks for the great videos Joe!

[@PaperBagMan884]

I love your videos! I've learned so much about Linux from just your channel alone.

[@sankargopal123]

Just getting started on UNIX and Linux and am I glad I landed here first :) Thank you !!!

[@jeevespreston]

THANKS for this lucid description AND with the comparison to Windows locations. Been wondering about these folder purposes for years, now it's clear!!!

[@jwkmpli]

hi I have been a pc user for 30 years on windows, and been using ubuntu for 5 yrs now thanks for this info all my family didnt like idea of switch to linux at the start but use it every day now, videos like this offer small bits of info to us that we can take on board easily and we don't feel things are to hard to understand, thanks

[@jb121993]

Thx much! Dove headfirst into learning Linux 2 yrs ago & left w/headache. Wanna get back in the game, but at slower pace. Your xplination was great!

[@RealGengarTV]

From a long time windows/dos user (win 3.11) THANK YOU SO MUCH! I've always scratched my head when I dabbled in the linux file indexing system (that's what I call it so I don't confuse it with file system such as NTFS and EXT4)

[@j7ndominica051]

As a Windows user, I find this directory structure more logical and compact. No problems with spaces in file names, the directory tree is shallow, system, users, temp and caches are separate and movable instead of buried into one another.

[@mephInc]

I find it horrible. To me, it's unorganized as I prefer to bury things inside one another that relate to each other. It's that OCD in me.

[@chunkyg6715]

The permissions and ownership on files and directories are also more secure and configurable in Linux and Unix systems, because they were built with security and multi user capability from the ground up. One major difference in directory structure being that Windows uses the backslash for paths and forward slash for command line switches, whereas Linux and Unix use forward slashes for paths and backslashes to escape special characters (which only becomes obvious working in the Windows CMD and Linux/Unix shell/Terminal). Everything’s either a directory or file in Linux so you can mount devices how you wish without having to rely on C:\, D:\, E:\, etc drive letters, and the EXT4 filesystem doesn’t get fragmented the way NTFS does so the operating system doesn’t become painfully slow a few months after a fresh install.

[@CurrentlyObsessively]

Let me introduce you to '\ '

[@Mostlyharmless1985]

and then we come to /usr/local/..

[@HighestRank]

What you think is no problem with spaces- at the command line translates to an escaped character. Looks like a problem from where I sit.

[@hobstar]

As some whom has a decent PC background but is new to Linux, I found this very useful. New subscriber.

[@davelowe1977]

That was the single most useful presentation on Linux I've ever watched. Thanks!

[@hottyson]

I have been using open source operating systems since Mandrake/Mandriva and MEPIS. I have not understood directory structures until now. Thank you Joe Collins!

[@ryan.1990]

I just dual partitioned Linux Mint 18, can't wait to get stuck in!

[@sylvainyu3104]

I will try to access to Linux Arch!

[@stevebez2767]

James O'Morain man info is good? Cathedral bazar? Git? Debuggers? EMacs?lisp?python? Eric Idle?monte Carlos? Hadoop?

[@gm2407]

How did it go, did it meet your expectations?

[@PETAJOULE543]

Nice explanation about contents of Linux directories, mounting in Linux, filenames being case-sensitive, hidden files that have dot at the beginning plus Samba

[@deathangel523]

Thanks for making this video . A perfect review for how Linux file system works.

[@temari2860]

Watching this tutorial with old Ubuntu's unity desktop brings a lot of nostalgia.

[@Cheweetina1]

Hi Joe,Thanks so much! Good teaching!

[@EzeeLinux]

+Cheweetina1 Thanks for watching. :)

[@jgenterprisesnew9552]

Thanks Joe. You give me hope that I could still learn LINUX.

[@someguyO2W]

Been looking for a proper explanation of each directory and its function for quite a bit. Thanks.

[@kdavisongalvis]

I've been using linux for 5 days now, useful video. Thank You!

[@interestingspagetti]

Have watched quite a few of your vid's in the past. I posted on another vid of yours yesterday. I 've just installed mate 16.04 on my laptop. I have a lot to learn about linux. Your vid's are really informative. Learning lots from you. :)

[@z3jlewhhda376]

Clear words with clear concepts. Appreciated!

[@hermesflores6271]

I am a Linux new user. This class was very helpful for me to understand a lot of things. I really appreciate your help. Also I will like to learn more so I can switch completely to Linux. Right now I have all my computers dual boot with Linux distros. Ubuntu Studio, MX Linux, Fedora and a Virtual Box with Kali. I been investing more than 4 hours daily to learn more about programming and working on Linux environment. There's only one thing I have not make work on Linux, that is Spectrum TV app and Netflix all because of flash player. Thanks.

[@BrandonAbel01]

One video at a time the foundation is built. Thanks Joe!

[@ploopy07]

this was way more entertaining than it should have been ty

[@gibsonfx3819]

Thanks for all these tutorials. They are truly special.

[@WXLM-MorganNicole619]

I’ve see this a few times but it still applies and helps me remember these. Thanks again Joe! Good help

[@marcdraco2189]

20+ years and I finally know what the hell USR means! (DOOP)

[@raccoon_cast]

I came here just for that. I always thought it was user.

[@5tr33tC13]

its not?! I've just began watching lol

[@5tr33tC13]

okay now I know; universal system resources; haha

[@varundeshpandevd]

Yes me too

[@GifCoDigital]

Bahahahaha shit I was just about to write a douchey comment saying how the hell did you not know usr = user !!! Glad i watched the video first, ive always thought it was user since the first time I used a linux distro!! lol

[@miragexii446]

I am learning Linux & this is very helpful. Thank you very much. Please keep up the outstanding work! Take care.

[@staninjapan07]

That's a good, simple tutorial, thanks. Don't be afraid to switch from Windows, folks. I use Linux Mint on an old Macbook and it's (functionally) pretty much the same as Apple's operating system of its time - but of course it gets updates frequently and it's free.

[@frederickwrigley2295]

Nice and clear, and it's useful for 90+% Linux users. Thanks!

[@Zager-recap]

Your way of teaching is Great...Thanks a lot Joe.

[@kadeembey8367]

Such a well thought out and put together video, my god. thank you for taking the time to create this. I have watched other paid videos and none provide as much detail as this ! Very easy to understand with great windows to Linux comparisons !!!

[@NeilRoy]

"Lets call this folder USR, nobody will be confused by that!" ;) And PWD? Is it just me who thinks this should have something to do with passwords? ROOT isn't the root. This could be why Windows people get confused by Linux. Someone didn't have their head screwed on straight when they named some of these things. ;) Still, a handy video, finally helped me with some of these things. I still feel the operating system is overly paranoid when it comes to constant password prompts, but given the history, I understand it.

[@palvidhi]

It is present working directory.

[@StevoDesign]

Doesn't really matter if people get confused by USR...if you don't know what it means, you're also not very likely to be fooling around in it anyway.

[@Ryndae-l]

Neil Roy Computers didn't have passwords when pwd was named ;)

[@NeilRoy]

Palunon I remember them having passwords. I guess it depends on the system you used back then. But Linux? No passwords? I find that VERY hard to believe. ;)

[@Ryndae-l]

Neil Roy Not Linux, but very early Unix. A lot of mainframes back then didn't use passwords, especially in places like the MIT and Bell Labs. We're talking somewhere between 1969 and 1973, not the 80's... At the time, Print Working Directory was a nice name.

[@sidihamza1018]

thank you very much , you helped me alot to better understand the system all your tutorials are so easy to be understood even if english is not my mother language but thanks to you i can deal with linux the easiest way possible thank you again a please keep up the great work :)

[@EzeeLinux]

Sidi Hamza Thanks. I try to keep it easy. Linux is actually a very simple and logical system but it's not always presented that way. :)

[@kewaltakhellambam7710]

"you just blew up the whole town man"😂.. Thanks this video really informative

[@kso35]

lol, "why didn't anyone tell me I did that?! Gee. " too funny. great video. I did not get bored!

[@TheoWerewolf]

Just for the record - Windows can also mount hard drives, folders and network shares as if they were folders on your main drive. It's discouraged because it's far more common with Windows systems to have removable drives and it's easy to forget that it's a drive when you do a mount point. But if you have a multi-drive system where the drives are fixed in the system, that's fine.

[@gnarthdarkanen7464]

I always knew it was possible in Windows... well... I have since Windows3 (I think?)... I was just cautioned against it because Windows had a tendency to be too stupid to still treat it as a drive (like being able to stop it before you unplug the thing on an external)... and you could lose your data. :o)

[@TheBrightPixel]

Actually, Windows will not allow you to map a drive marked as removable by default.

[@HighestRank]

The fact that Unix was made for colorblind people is why Linux GUIs are needed by the fully-sighted to do file operation- so the folder avatars can be adorned with icons that always visually show in a glance the removability of a drive.

[@liilalemuri2329]

There is so many relevant things i needed to know in that video of course including the main subject. Started very recently on Manjaro and like it as much as i thought id do and more since i knew almost nothing. I like how the Linux community is really dedicated and motivate in helping and sharing the OS. Of course that kind of thing has to ( cause its the same thing everywhere ) cause trouble among ppls sometime making " Linux folks " looking like they're always bickering and fighting against each other on the " how to " . Obviously its not true and YES sometime being presented aspects in a more simplistic manner is infinitely more practical then absolute precise facts. As long as the idea reflect the point its all good. Anyway we'll get there and figure soon enough if something had been explain simplified. Easier for the help and the helped. Awesome video , the longest 5 secs of my life before you change that " Y " but it was worth it ! Blow em all !!! XD

[@shivarampersaud2332]

Thanks a ton, I love videos like these that just help people out or teach ya something.

[@ukwongaman]

It is accepted that Linux is based on Unix. The directory name /usr is based on the word user, not Universal System Resource. In early Unix systems it was where you stored your files (/home didn't exist).; See page 48 of The Unix Programming Environment by Kernighan & Pike

[@mcilwraith001]

I leaned today to log on as root and delete everything :-) Good video!

[@Scott-mv7xm]

4:15 but linux does have a similar system to window's letter naming. ex: sda1, s would be sata/ssc drive, a is first, and 1 meaning the partition.

[@duranopaulo]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge. You make it more simple for us beginners.

[@rajpant88]

Great Joe & Cindy ..very helpful for those using this.

[@nabukodonosor777]

"you have to do it twice so the system knows you really mean it'....I LOVE IT!! :D It's not a bug, it's a feature! :D

[@varundeshpandevd]

Nicely done Joe. Keep up the good work.

[@TheFlyguy31]

I really enjoyed this tutorial. you took away the scary element of learning Linux and made it easier for me understand..Cheers

[@shellyshamsul3757]

your simple instruction and teaching simply awesome!

[@WXLM-MorganNicole619]

Much appreciated a nice little primer and refresher

[@andresho3618]

Thanks Joe for nice Videos. As newbie to Linux coming from Windows DOS, Vista, XP & Window 7 where softwares I can no longer affords. Your free tutorials is a welcome relieve not to mentions practically most linux softwares are "free". My difficulty now is to select the so-called linux free distribution...& the overall hardware/software is malware free. Perfect for beginner and academic audiences alike. Keep the good works.

[@HarmonicaMustang]

Good video. Something you forgot to mention is how the file extension system works. In Windows, you need to convert a file format before it's useable (e.g. Word to PDF). In Linux, you can tell the system what file you have just created by changing the file extension. When it's first created, a Linux file is in a neutral format. All you have to do is simply add an extension at the end and the system will treat it as such (e.g .mp3, .docx, .mp4, .pdf etc).

[@ABCo-ABMedia]

Uh, I'm not entirely sure if I get what you mean, but if you just mean changing the file extension of an existing file in the file explorer... then, you can do that in Windows as well, and it will treat it as that file. If I have an "mp4" file, I can easily just "show file extensions" and change it... Or, when I create a file, I would just create a text file and as I choose a name, replace the "txt" with whatever I want? Maybe I didn't completely understand what you meant there, but, from what I got out of it, you *can* just change the file extension of a file, and it will be treated as that file (the contents of it could be wrong though)

[@rajhussain6982]

Please do more videos Joe this was brilliant

[@anthonyedwards8403]

That was a great demonstration! of the Linux filing system Joe.

[@juanorod]

Watching this after watching Benno Joy's anatomy of file systems has been incredibly educational. Thanks!

[@rileystewart9165]

Your welcome for clicking on the video, but more importantly, thank you for making the video! We keep each other alive Mr. Collins. We keep each other alive.

[@kieran2347]

Ohhhh you gotta open the terminal for everything, that pitch was good haha, btw I ve started using linux mint 20 for a week now, although I've had it for months, still getting a hang of it. I have to dedicate some time just to learn all the stuff. Hopefully this coming week.

[@tytrvd]

Here in Nov 2023, Joe your the best !

[@brendanward2991]

Very helpful for a Linux newbie like me. Thanks.

[@ElvishShellfish]

As soon as you said "greetings and salutations" in your intro, I knew you ran Linux.

[@billalexander949]

Thanks for the videos. Love your teaching style.

[@rajkhare5949]

very very very useful vefio for the new linux user who moved from windows....thanks for explaining it so well!!

[@KvaGram]

Holy shit.- Praise Tux, and thank you. I'm planning on making Ubuntu my primary OS, and this helped a lot in understanding how the whole thing is organized. Here, have a like and sub.

[@zakb.7108]

Same here. Wanna switch from Windows to Linux, Ubuntu was the smoothest way since it installed every driver needed, tried other distros but it was hard, maybe in the future

[@jakewatkins1116]

Why is referring to reading from files only caring about your access to them called obfuscation instead of abstraction? I know abstraction is typically used in terms of OOP but I think it makes more sense here. 4:50

[@pay9011]

Very helpful video. 👍 I played around with Linux Puppy a few years ago but was intimidated by it. I'm now using Linux MX (alongside Win 7) so I want to actually understand it. This was a big help for me.

[@WolfireGaming]

One correction; the /bin tends to hold most important system programs and some legacy programs, but not *most* programs. Most programs install to /usr/bin these days.

[@stevebez2767]

WolfireGaming bin is utilities, programs are refer if what you write, applications is not really in your bin,applications and programs being separate things,the bin is referred as utilities as contains constant sets of things used which change and can be altered r changed by your preference as in UNIX where long term unity concludes the bin content isn't governor definite use?

No since /usr move happend, just like on other unixes.

[@HighestRank]

Steve Bez I see no definitive differences between “applications” and ‘programs’. False dichotomy, the two words in English are synonymous.

[@jvsnyc]

@Mike Rotch-Wreeks How has ClassicShell been doing since the author abandoned it due to it being almost impossible to keep functioning across Windows10 updates and open-sourced it? I totally gave up on it there.

[@Mostlyharmless1985]

/bin holds all your base system stuff. /usr/bin holds your installed stuff. that way if you want to start fresh, you can chuck /usr/bin and not hose the entire system. In theory. In practice...

[@xwinglover]

I learned a few things from this video. Thanks!

[@xk1k1x]

Currently training for my A+ 1002 and was really struggling with Linux since I have no experience with it. This was unbelievably helpful

[@s.b.asokadissanayake4276]

Thank YOU, I am forgetting all these in my twilight years.

[@Naeidea]

Saw the time was 12:53 on your vid, almost thought it was my local time and was running VERY late.

[@SalAndCat]

Awesome video! Thanks man, you helped me a lot understanding the file system in Linux OS.

[@phantompanda1508]

that kermit impression was HILARIOUS XD

[@nt5898]

I just started my school. Nice, was really useful. Thanks man )

[@pfv3462]

Thank you for making this video, In which folder are the newly installed programs installed? And is it customizable? In windows you can choose the disk where you install the new software, but in linux when I install it via the terminal I don't see this choice! Thanks in advance for the answer 🤗👍

[@EzeeLinux]

There are actually several locations for binary and script files (executable) on Linux. Where it goes depends on who created it and who will have access to it. Most programs go into /usr/bin, though. No, linux doesn't let you install stuff anywhere you want... usually. The developer decides where it goes at install. :)

[@rationalraven8956]

Cool I've been using Linux for years and didn't know what most of the abbreviations in / directory meant, thanks for the info.

[@dirkhaar2243]

An update is needed as bin and sbin (and lib?) are replaced by links to /usr/* instead.

[@EzeeLinux]

Debian has done that and Ubuntu but other distros still have real directories. It still stands.

[@arcticjoe1142]

Joe: I've watched this video several times over the past couple of years. Like it very much. Thanks... Joe

[@bradsw57]

Cool vid Joe. You forgot to talk about the /proc directory, where be dragons and jewels for those brave enough to explore...writing random data into random locations in, say, /proc/kcore can be endlessly entertaining ;) (And enlightening for those who like to learn things the hard way....)

[@EzeeLinux]

Brad Wood LOL! I skipped /proc on purpose. :)

[@owenbirdsong4884]

I found the command "history" useful instead of the arrow keys. Plus you can highlight a command and reuse it.

[@semco72057]

I am here to look at the setup of the different folders because it has been a long time since I looked at or used the Linux or Unix file system on a computer and have forgotten all that information. I learned to use Linux some, but had trouble with Sun Systems Unix and learning how to use the OS'.

[@addusernamehere]

13:59 "Why didn't anybody tell me I did that?" LOL hahaha. Funny fella

[@7ismersenne]

Excellent intro. Ditto on usr :) Please give us some more :)

[@tomtommyl805]

I **Tried* to use Linux. every time I did, I failed because I couldn't figure out how the hard drives worked. I had 2 hard drives on my machine and couldn't address them separately . (I was too used to the C, D, E way of identifying the drives.) I had so many books and yet still couldn't figure out how the hard drives worked. You shed some light but I'm still messed up because of the old windows ways. I eventually gave up on Linux.

[@ayozhek1898]

Great easy to follow tutorial, thank you 🙂

[@bono743]

I really looove your channel, you made me leave windows and convert to linux. Thank you sir

[@motoryzen]

He provided info in which you choose to be encouraged by to leave windows. He didn't take you do anything. But in all positive sincerity, congrats man. xD the more that leave winblows behind...eventually more AAA game dev support we get, and eventually microshit will fall

[@bono743]

@@motoryzen You're right, i should've put it like this: "you encouraged me to leave windows, and so i did". i rly delved in linux in the past month, and i liked it, though i don't want windows to fail. i began using Windows in 2006, it helped me a lot through these 12 yrs, from gaming to web development to programming to etc... + many people like its' GUI, and it is RLY GOOD, better enhanced than linux, for me at least. all in all, thank you for ur comment, we all have different opinions :)

[@chunkyg6715]

Once you’ve been using Linux for a while you’ll see how much more secure, stable and faster it is than Windows which has for a long time been an insecure piece of bloatware (which requires 2GB or more RAM just to run the operating system and susceptible to malware) along with all the privacy issues and forced updates that come with Windows 10. Just be sure to pick a stable, easy to use distro and stay away from the bleeding edge distros when you’re first starting out. Once you’re comfortable with Linux you can move onto Debian, Fedora, CentOS, Arch or any other distro.