Command Line Tutorial for Beginners Ubuntu 16.10 Yakkety Linux

Listing

2. 2. Listing

   Now try to List the Directory’s Contents
   To List the Directory you are in execute:

   ls .

   The “.” is optional and meaning the Location you are in.
   [See how the Command “ls” is just an Abbreviation for Listing!]
   The default Location each time you open a New Terminal Window is the Home Folder.
   So the Output of the Command should be very similar to this:

   Desktop/    Downloads/  Pictures/   tmp/
   Documents/  Music/      Templates/  Videos/
   

   Here the Entities with a Trailing Slash are Directories.
   Again to List the Downloads Folder inside on your Home, run:

   ls ~/Downloads

   Or also:

   ls $HOME/Downloads

   Where “$HOME” is an Environment Variable always containing your User’s Home Path.
   Next to List the Main System’s Root Directory:
   (The Root of What? Of the System’s Directory Tree. The Trunk, all the other Directories are Branches.)

   ls /

   So possibly to List the “usr” Directory:
   [Again an Abbreviation for “User System Resources“]:

   ls /usr

   Finally, to List the “bin” Branch:
   [Again an Abbreviation for “Binaries” (The Executables)]

   ls /usr/bin

3. Next practice the Change of Directory
   Change to the Root Directory:

   cd /

   [Again find out how “cd” is an Abridgement for “Changing Directory“]
   Then Go to /usr/bin:

   cd /usr/bin

   Now to Navigate Back to the Parent use the “..” option.
   So non to Return to the Root of the Directory Tree you may play:

   cd ../..

   (It’s like to say: ‘One Step Back and then One Step Back’ again)
   Finally, to Return Home is simple as:

   cd  

   Then to Verify you are in that Location Use:

   pwd

   [In this case the “pwd” Command is a Shortcut for “Print Working Directory“]
   Hey Congratulations! you achieved the First, Step-by-step Walk into the Linux Directory Tree! :)

Especially relevant, about the Shell Terminology, there are 3 different Entities named as “Root”:

• The System’s Directory Tree Root: /
• The root User’s Directory: /root
• The root User: the SuperAdmin that can Execute Any Command

4. Again experiment the Creative powers
   With a test Directory like:

   mkdir $HOME/livingroom

   [See here again how “mkdir” is an Abbreviation for “Making Directory“].

   How you should have already understood, $HOME and ‘~‘ are both synonymous of your’s Home Folder.
   And the Home Directory is where your User Contents are Stored by Default.

   Moreover, to enhance your Memorization and Fun I rightly Use some Metaphoric term. So here you can Immagine a directory like a Room into your Home :)

   Try Making Multiple Directories at once with:

   mkdir $HOME/bedroom $HOME/bathroom $HOME/garden

   Try to use the “ls” Command to Check your creative Work:)

   ls ~

   Finally, use the ‘touch‘ Command to Make a New Empty File:

   touch $HOME/livingroom/box

   And how you could already have perceived, in my creative Examples I make use of the following Mnemonic Linking:

   • Directory -> Spatial Entity

   • File -> Thing

   And so in the Previous Command to an “Empty File” corresponds a natively “Empty Thing” like a “box”, or otherwise you may take it as a simple Label/Name ;)