The basic directory structure in Linux

Now type this: ls

You will probably see something like this:

cdrom	home	opt	tmp
dev	lib	proc	usr
bin	etc	lost+found		root	var
boot	floppy	mnt	sbin

They will be blue in color. Those are directories.

The /bin directory

Type ls again.

This is the famous bin/ directory. You know, I have always felt this one was misnamed. For example, when people say, 'That's no good, throw it in the bin'. Actually, bin/ is one of the most important directories in Linux. You'll find all of the most used commands there. Right now you should be seeing a lot of red (or green, depending on your version of Linux). Those are programs.

The /etc directory

Now let's look at another directory. There's a long way and a short cut. First the long way.

'cd ..' will get you out of bin/.

'cd etc' will get you into the etc/ directory.

or you can just type 'cd /etc' in the bin/ directory and it will bring you to the etc/ directory .

Anyway, you are now in the etc/ directory. This houses most of the configuration files for Linux. lilo.conf, the file that tells you which OS to boot is in there.

you'll see: lilo.conf

And you don't even have to type the whole thing. You could just type 'ls li' and push the tab key. Linux will type the rest for you. Isn't that cool!

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