Installation guide

Chapter 12.
Managing Files and Directories
The GNOME file manager Nautilus and the KDE file manager Konqueror are powerful and im-
portant tools for managing files and directories. They are discussed in Chapter 2 and Chapter 3, re-
spectively. This chapter discusses the shell prompt commands that can be used to manage files and
directories on your Red Hat Linux system as well as how to view PDF files.
Note
Due to system security, unless you are root, you will not be able to gain access to all system-level files
and directories. If you do not have the permission to open, delete, or execute a file, you will receive
an error message saying your access is denied. This is normal behavior.
12.1. A Larger Picture of the File System
Every operating system has a method of storing data in files and directories so that it can keep track
of additions, modifications, and other changes.
In Linux, every file is stored in a directory. Directories can also contain directories; these subdirecto-
ries can also contain files and other subdirectories.
You might think of the file system as a tree-like structure, in which directories "branch off." Those
directories may contain, or be the "parent" of, other directories which may hold files and directories
of their own.
There would not be a tree without a root, and the same is true for the Linux file system. No matter how
far away the directories branch, everything is connected to the root directory, which is represented as
a single forward slash (/).
Tip
Red Hat Linux uses the term root in several different ways, which might be confusing to new users.
There is the root account (the superuser, who has permission to do anything), the root account’s
home directory (/root) and the root directory for the entire file system (/). When you are speaking
to someone and using the term root, be sure you know which root you are talking about.
Unless you are a system administrator, you probably do not have permission to write to the files and
directories outside of your home directory. Certain directories are reserved for specific purposes. For
example, /home is the default location for users’ home directories.
Users that are not system administrators might find the following directories useful:
• /home — Default location for users’ home directories. For example, a user with the username foo
has the home directory /home/foo.
• /usr/share/doc — Location of documentation for installed packages. For example, the docu-
mentation for the dateconfig software package is located in /usr/share/doc/dateconfig-
version-number .