At 11:25 PM 11/28/1999 -0700, you wrote:
>You're probably seeing links in action. Under Linux/Unix, you can multiple
>directory references pointing to a single file. So, depending on how things
>are set up (or screwed up), you can have one "file" or "directory" appear in
>multiple locations. This is neither good nor bad, just different. Once you
>get used to it, no big deal.
I suspected it might be so, but does that mean I have to find the "real"
one to access/affect/install files in a folder or can I use any one I find
exactly as though it were the primary one?
>They are "there" but the idea of limiting oneself to drives A-Z is pretty
>constraining. Linux/Unix lets you mount devices according to LOGICAL
>requirements rather than arbitrary sequential letters based on PHYSICAL
>limitations. And links further let you do both!
Okay, I can see the point in that, but how then do you decide on a mount
point? is it entirely arbitrary? It doesn't seem to because it will often
say "mount point ____ does not exist".
I personally think it marks a real point of progress in one's networking
>career (where applicable) when one can forget drive letters and think first
>of the relationship between devices and systems. Links and drive letter
>mapping make great shortcuts, but you can get pretty lost if you insist on
>thinking of it all in terms of 26 (or so) letters instead of truly knowing
>where things are. Even under DOS, drive letters are subject to change if you
>modify your hardware config.
Well, on the one hand, "truly knowing where things are" means knowing
(according to your explanation) where they are conceptually instead of
"physically". Yet, on the other, how can you know that when you are
starting out? How do you know one file type from another and why therefor
it would be in one place rather than another? (and yes, I'm learning)
>Just keep in mind that Unix pre-dates DOS by a long shot, and provides a
>hell of a lot more power. It is very different, and I think it's a mistake
>to try to draw too many parallels between it and a lesser OS. There are many
>similaries for some things, but darned few for others.
I'm just trying to get my brain to twist into it, I don't question the
power of *ix systems, just that most of my association with computers has
been DOS or windows, the other has been MAC which uses the same conceptual
file heirarchy.
>It's WAY more complicated than AUTOEXEC.BAT (runlevels and such) but
>basically, a script somewhere under /etc/rc.d (or /etc/rc) eventually calls
>mount which refers to /etc/fstab to know where to put things on startup.
Yet, he put the entire command into the etc/fstab, nothing in any rc script.
> > What does rc stand for?
>
>Aside from the cola, runtime configuration if memory serves...
Good! That helps make sense of it.
>I suppose it would be simpler if we all used exactly one operating system
>exactly one way. Hmm...
yeah, but we don't and a body's gotta learn this stuff wherever she
can! Complaining is just one way of attempting to solve problems. Also,
if enough dos users complain about the lack of linux for dos dummies, maybe
someone will realize there's a good market there, if it's truly designed
for someone only used to dos, and the darn book will get written!
>Just start at the beginning and work slowly. Linux, Solaris, HP-UX nor
>anything else will look much like DOS. That's a good thing when all is said
>and done. Just like language and religion, forcing your perceptions on it
>won't always help understanding. Anytime I start with a new OS, I try to
>think in terms of "how is this better" rather than "why does this have to be
>different?"
It's okay that it's different, but every time I get it installed I sit
there staring at it, going "okay, what the hell do I do with this now?" and
having no clue. I've managed to get a desktop that I could play with a bit
so it looked funky, surfed a bit with netscape, but I find surfing boring,
and did a wee bit of licq, but... I suppose if I can confuzzle my way to a
server that actually serves me that I'd have something to do with it...
Anyway, with each further bit I learn, I learn a further bit.
bye,,,,,,,,,,,,,,(\
Yolanda ,,,,,,,,,,\\_/(\
UIN 4898262,,,..,,,Q Q \)
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