Of course if you are used to Microsoft Windows you are familiar with the concept of files. This familiarity means you won’t have to start from zero to learn about Linux files. However, you will have to relearn several concepts and techniques to work with files in the Linux environment, whether using Damn Small Linux or other versions. You can do several great things with Linux files that you can’t do easily or at all under Windows. This could be just one more reason to switch from Windows to Linux.

Files have unique names. This rule is not as simple as it may seem. There is no conflict between a hard disk file named pay12june and a file named pay12june on your removable USB flash drive. In fact, be sure to backup all your important files. Don’t worry if your hard drive file is erased or becomes corrupted and illegible, simply access the one on your flash drive. You could also have two files named pay12june on your hard drive in different directories. Directories, collections of directories and files, will be discussed in the next article in this series.

Linux distinguishes between lower-case and upper-case characters in file names. Microsoft Windows does not. For example, Linux treats pay12june and Pay12june as two different files, as different as pay12june and heighho. Windows users will have to adapt to this major difference. Even though I am a Linux fan I don’t see any advantage in the Linux way of naming files. Maybe I have spent too much time in the Windows environment.

File names should be relatively short. The allowed maximum is 255 characters but working with long file names is no fun and in fact is asking for trouble. Linux file names may not contain the character / which has a special meaning. To avoid misunderstanding don’t include special characters such as $ and & in your file names. Doing so could cause confusion and lead to hard-to-find errors. For the same reason don’t call your files by special Linux names such as etc.

Linux sometimes applies file extensions; common examples include .c to indicate a C-language program and .htm or .html to indicate one type of web page. Savvy Linux users often avoid coding the file extension but rely on the file directory to indicate the file type. Don’t give a Linux file a misleading file extension.

Use an editor to create or modify a text file. The old fashioned vi editor has been replaced by more powerful, user-friendly editors. Most versions of Linux come with several editors. Damn Small Linux, a popular version that runs under Windows, includes several editors such as Beaver that come quite close to being intuitive.

Linux provides an enormous variety of commands for processing files. Many of these commands are mnemonic; for example the command cp is used to copy files. Many commands include a wide variety of options. Consider the ls command, somewhat similar to the DIR command in the Windows environment. This seemingly simple command is quite rich and offers dozens and dozens of options many of which have no equivalent in the Windows environment.

Linux commands can be thought of as verbs. Just like most English sentences include more than a verb (go, jump) complete Linux commands contain the command itself and one or more objects. To copy a file you not only need to specify cp but also What and Where. For example, the command cp pay12june backuparea means copy the pay12june file into the backuparea directory.

Linux syntax (grammar rules) is quite strict and does take time to learn. But mastering Linux and associated technologies can lead to employment. The next step is mastering Linux directories.

Maybe domination is too strong a word. Maybe not. The market conditions for Linux are as favorable as they have ever been. Apple and Microsoft have weaknesses that are either plainly evident, or will be revealed soon.
The general public is becoming more technologically savvy in general, and beginning to understand their options. There are just a few things that stand in the way of the general public’s adoption of the operating system, in my opinion. We’ll tackle Linux’s greatest opportunities and the weaknesses that can and do slow down its adoption as a mainstream OS.
Let’s start with the favorable environment: Microsoft is really hurting with Vista. I mean badly. They’ve made an operating system that has locked itself out of all but the new PC market. Then, it nags you like a small child each time you need install a program, or download something, or sync your mp3 player. The business market will hardly touch this. Now, they’ve hired Jerry Seinfeld to fix it all. Somebody needs to tell them that just because he idolizes Superman, doesn’t mean he is Superman. Microsoft looks tired. They should probably just release an OS called XPlus( for the uninitiated, that would be XP SP4.)
Apple, while gaining market share and shooting at Microsoft, is now worth more than Google. There are problems that lie down the path of growth. Apple has always bragged about security, and the fact that you don’t need anti-virus for their systems. My computer teacher( millenia ago ) told me it wasn’t needed for one simple reason: Crackers(known to the general public as “hackers”) didn’t find it very profitable to crack a MAC. The adoption rate was too low. Now that the adoption rate has increased, the prospect of savaging bragadocious fanboys is almost irresistible. What could be better than humiliating the arrogant, artsy crowd?
Then there’s the fact that Microsoft seems a kindly old grandfather when it comes to openness. Steve Jobs holds his cards ridiculously close to his chest. While this might not bother the average user, it will get on the nerves of those who want complete control of their system. Apple has tighter DRM than Microsoft, and has recently come under fire for their invisible software upgrades. It won’t take long for the more adventurous user to download another OS and find other programs to meet her needs.
Linux has made great strides because of one flavor of their operating system: Ubuntu. Talk all you want about how Debian, Fedora, and SUSE are the pure, unadulterated nectar of the Linux gods. Mark Shuttleworth’s Canonical has made Linux palatable for the average user. The install process is simple, it’s free, and adding programs is a snap using Synaptic. Wireless support is vastly better in this distro, as is printer support. Plus, it boasts the largest Linux community.
That community tends to write programs that solve extremely specific problems. They are also writing programs that meet or exceed closed source, commercially available software. This is the most vital thing for the continued growth of Linux as an operating system.
The security problems for Linux are almost non-existent at present time. It’s pretty air tight, not to say that it can’t be done, it’s just that it is far more profitable to hack internet communications than it is to hack a Linux box. Plus, the Linux community will track you down and make you eat your hard drive if you take out one of their PC’s. This may change as well, with broader adoption, but right now I am not worried about some Windoze script kiddie hacking my box.
If all this is true, then what stands in the way of further Linux adoption?
Sound. I bet you thought I was going to say “the command line”. We’ll get to that later. Linux sound is a pain to configure, and is really horrible if you want to run more than one program that requires sound output. There are a couple of different ways to implement sound in Linux. Some of them are stable, some are not. In 50% of all cases, one application’s sound will work, while another will not. Yesterday, I ran into a case where a sound server actually kept an entire application from running. Until Linux converts to a single, common sound architecture, then it will keep the average user dependent on…
The command line. You knew it was coming, I gave you fair warning. I enjoy the command line, to a certain extent. It allows me to instantly kill a program when it hangs, no questions asked. I can edit configuration files without opening a text editor. Just today, an article came across my screen, in which the author stated that you could use Linux forever without having to touch the command line. While technically true, that assertion is misleading, at best. All help articles in Linux forums start with, or assume you have already opened the command line. If you need to fix something, you will be using the CL, or you will not be using Linux very long.
This is something that people are going to have to come to terms with, unless Linux kernels and library sources are closed. What will hopefully happen is a more accessible command line integrated into the various window managers as part of the default configuration. Predictive commands(and the ability for expert users to turn this feature off) should play a huge roll when delivering the rollout to the average user. The final holdup is…
Developers, Developers, Developers. So we laughed at Steve “MonkeyBoy” Ballmer during his outburst of “irrational exuberance”. Major developers of closed-source software will have to get on board for the full adoption of Linux. Even though I love to GIMP, and am huge devotee, I miss the incredible batch processing abilities, and clean interface of Photoshop CS3(GIMPShop doesn’t cut it). I just do. I miss Flash. I don’t want to dual boot, or use WINE. I want a natively run solution. That is what is currently missing in the Linux equation. I want a peanut butter sandwich, not a bologna sandwich. Just because you can eat it, doesn’t mean you enjoy it as much. The common Windows user feels a far greater fear than I do in this regard, and they won’t give up their familiar programs and OS without a serious fight.
For every flaw, Linux has thousands of advantages. Linux will become a major player on the OS scene, has(and will) be the greatest bridge on the path to platform independent software and cloud computing. It will. The question is, how soon will we, as the Linux community, stop arguing over whose distro is better, and have a conversation about which path it will take to domination as an operating system.

There are many valid reasons to switch from Microsoft Windows to Ubuntu Linux. Both the average computer user and corporations can benefit from the switch to Ubuntu. Do not worry if you have never heard of Ubuntu, I will briefly introduce you to the best free Linux distribution available.

The name of the Operating System is an African word which means,

If you have any involvement with Information Technology, you’re probably already familiar with Linux as a server operating system. Indeed, for many applications Linux is an accepted and even preferred platform. Google has built and is expanding one of the world’s largest cluster of Linux servers to host its pervasive search engine system. Major hardware vendors, including IBM and Hewlett-Packard, sell servers preloaded with Linux and provide premium support for the operating system. Oracle is the largest commercial database running on Linux with more than 80% market share. Successful commercial applications like VMware ESX are built on Linux foundations. And many of the largest Internet hosting providers run on Linux.

On the other hand, if your computer experience is limited to your own home PC, you may never have even heard of Linux and may be wondering what all the fuss is about. If that’s the case, listen up because Linux may be coming to a desktop near you!What is Linux?

Simply put, Linux is a computer operating system like the Mac OS X or Microsoft Windows. The difference is that Linux is open source; anyone can view, modify, and redistribute the underlying code. Further, while OS X is designed to run only on Apple hardware, and while Windows runs primarily on x86 processors from Intel and AMD, there are many distributions or flavors of Linux, compiled to run on a wide array of hardware, everything from high-end corporate servers and mainframes, to home PC’s, to cell phones.

Linux began as a pet project of a Finnish university student, Linus Torvalds, in 1991 as an alternative to the server operating system Unix. He made it freely available to anyone who wished to modify it and it was quickly adopted and grew. Still, it remained primarily a server-based system. Few home users would have chosen its complex command-line interface over the comfortable and easy-to-use point-and-click GUI of the Macintosh or Windows.

However, Linux now also sports a graphical front-end and a plethora of user-friendly applications.Going GUI

Since Linux is all about choice, it’s not surprising that there are a number of graphical environments available. The two most popular that come preloaded on many distributions targeted for desktop or workstation use are Gnome and KDE. Both offer features home users have come to expect: menus, icons from which to launch applications and documents, desktop wallpaper, screen savers, trash icons, and the like.

Connecting to printers is a simple process of selecting the printer type from a menu and telling the system where to find it, either on a local port or a network queue. To print from most applications simply select File, Print. No surprises there.

Sharing folders is equally simple and relies upon standard protocols that interface well with Macintosh and Windows systems.

For security, you can create multiple user accounts; each user gets their own desktop they can customize as they wish. There’s also a built-in firewall to protect you from Internet intruders.

Of course, most people are more interested in the applications they can run, rather than the underlying operating system. Here, Linux is in no way deprived.Applications

For browsing the Internet, there’s Mozilla’s Firefox and Konqueror. For e-mail there’s Thunderbird and Evolution. The popular OpenOffice.org suite provides typical office functionality including word processing, spreadsheet, database, drawing, and presentations. The Gimp and Inkscape offer advanced graphics capabilities. And there’s a variety of utilities for burning CDs and DVDs, listening to music, watching videos, and chatting via services like AOL’s Instant Messenger.

This list is by no means complete. There are thousands of open source applications for Linux; you’d be hard-pressed not to find one that could do what you need. But there are also many commercial applications available.Drawbacks

If Linux offers so much of the same functionality as Windows, why isn’t it more widely used? Why do many home and corporate users reject it?

Microsoft Windows, while it has many faults, has become so widespread in its use as to be nearly ubiquitous. It has become the de facto standard by which other systems are measured. For those people already familiar with and comfortable with Windows, anything else is a step back, even if it is faster, more intuitive, more stable, and more secure.

Also, it must be admitted, there are still situations where you may need to venture into the cryptic world of the Linux command shell. For those used to living with a mouse in one hand, typing commands like awk and grep at a flashing cursor is unacceptable.

And, while there are enough applications to satisfy all but the most demanding of users, there are a few notable exceptions. Microsoft Office is not available on Linux, and likely never will be. Adobe Photoshop is also missing. In both cases, nearly all of the functionality these two giants provide is available in other applications, but for some die hards, that’s not good enough. While there are ways of running some Windows applications on Linux, they’re not usually as fast or as stable — or as easy to implement — as native Linux applications.

The situation is even dimmer for games. While the console market — PlayStation, Nintendo, and Xbox — is growing, the PC and Mac game market is shrinking. The commercial Linux game market is even smaller. Oh, there are plenty of games for Linux, but most are modest efforts, with few of the heavy hitters widely available on other platforms. Those that have been ported to Linux are not always fully supported — if they’re supported at all — by the original producer. For example, while you can purchase Quake 4 for Linux, don’t expect id Software to help you get it running, a task not for neophytes or those who shy away from the command line.Vendors

Despite any apparent drawbacks, some major vendors are actively promoting Linux on the desktop. Novell now offers the SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop, while Red Hat offers Enterprise Linux WS, both targeted at corporations. Since users in this environment are likely to have a fixed set of applications without a heavy gaming need, Linux is often ideal. And a number of organizations are taking advantage of the potential savings offered by these open source options. Governments especially, under scrutiny for how they handle the public purse, are often quick to make the move. Among them are the cities of Largo, Florida, USA; Bristol, UK; and Bergen, Norway. They have each made their taxpayers happy with significant savings over the closed source, proprietary systems they used to use.Choices

If you’re a heavy gamer, then you’ll probably want to stick with Windows or a dedicated console. If your focus is advanced graphics and video editing, then Linux may be an option, if you’re willing to give up certain commercial applications. Otherwise, you’d be better off with a Macintosh. If you’re just surfing the Internet, sending e-mail, writing letters, and editing spreadsheets, then Linux and the open source software that comes with many distributions will do everything you need.

On the other hand, if you don’t want to ever see a command line or edit configuration files by hand, then Linux probably isn’t for you just yet. But it may be soon.