<snip because some things have been beaten to death so many times in so many
places already. :) >
> - in Linux after an install I find those files god knows where.
that's what package management is for. package management vs.
'sensible' filesystem heirarchies are one of the oldest holy wars... the
problem is, that *everyone* has a different opinion about what a 'sensible'
filesystem layout is. Package management tools are not friction-free either;
but tend to be the lesser of two evils.
> As I newbie I didn't know how to config X, neither where to find the config file or
>what
> is was called...
I got a *really* good introduction to the unix filesystem layout
when I bought the boxed set of RedHat 5.1. it explained what each of the
trees was for, in about 2 pages. clear, concise, readable, and some of the
most importatant doco I've ever read for Linux.
it seems non-intuitive at first; but makes sense pretty quickly once
it's all laid out. when I taught a series of classes about linux; this is
one of the topics that everyone wanted to know about, and I ended up
spending about an hour going into detail on the subject.
here's a quick stab at making sense:
/tmp - temporary stuff. should be part of the root filesystem, since it
may need to be there for some stuff to start up. don't put anything there
that you want to stay, because it's not guaranteed to last between reboots.
indeed, if you're like me and use a RAM-based filesystem for it, it will be
wiped clean every time you reboot.
/var - variable data that the system writes, or is for the system, or
changes a lot. logfiles, mail spools, databases go here. /var/tmp is the
preferred place for temporary data that doesn't really belong to any user;
since it's on the same filesystem as a lot of other changing data.
/usr - users' application executables and some data that doesn't change.
according to the Linux Filesystem Heirarchy Standard, and the standards of a
lot of other unices, *This Should Be Mountable Read-Only*. there shouldn't
be any data on there that changes without the sysadmin knowing about it.
mounting it read-only means that it's less susceptible to corruptio &
cracking; and may make it faster to access.
/sbin - system files. things that are needed for a basic system to boot. if
it's not necessary at boot time, or to rescue a broken system, it should go
in /usr.
/home - users' home directories. if it distinctly belongs to particular
users, ideally it should go here.
/etc - configuration data. every system-wide application should keep its
configuration data somewhere under here.
that's kind of generalized; every *nix interprets that a bit differently;
but it gives you the salient bits.
lots of programs and distributions break those design goals pretty readily;
tho most don't do it so badly that you can't see why.
once you learn the mappings (like configuration==/etc, variables==/var, user
applications==/usr, system boot/rescue stuff==/bin & /sbin); you'll be glad
for the short names.
typing '/bin' takes fewer keystrokes than '/Binaries', even if you type
'/Bin<tab>'. when you're a sysadmin, and live on the command line, you
appreciate this. :)
you're right tho; a lot of this stuff is named as it is, for historical
reasons, and because it was originally intended for multi-user systems.
however; PCs are becoming increasingly multi-user systems, and the unices
already have the necessary scaleablity built in; unlike Windows, which was
based on a single-user limited-functionality system, and has the added
functionality patched onto it. (badly at that, since they had no pressure to
make them do the job well).
sorry. we're getting pretty off-topic by now. ;)
> And so on.
> When I started learning how to handle PCs in 1995 I had a lot of friends who all ran
>MSDOS
> and information filed to me from anywhere, today it's still the same with Win, but
>once I
> have questions bout linuxand it's urgent, there's only one person who really has a
>clue,
you actually get help from other windows users? I've found the
opposite to be true... Windows users tend to hoard knowlege, like they hoard
software (look at the amount of shareware for Windows; compared to Linux,
where it's mostly free). Linux users tend to be pretty responsive to
questions (when they have the time, unlike me).
if I have a question; I just post to the local LUG's mailing list,
and I'm likely to get a handful of answers by the next morning.
> for anything else I gotta read hundreds of usenet msgs.
google is your friend. :) Linux & *BSD are some of the easiest
things to find answers for on google searches; becuase there's so much
discussion on so many LUG lists.
if you want answers *right now*, like a lot of buisnesses do; that's where
RedHat and Linuxcare step in. it's just like a lot of things... if you want
something now, you pay for the privelege; or else you wait, and get it
cheaper along with everyone else.
Carl Soderstrom.
--
Network Engineer
Real-Time Enterprises
(952) 943-8700
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