Slackware 9 questions 1

[loadedmind]

Hey all. Have decided to take on the task of learning Slack 9 as much as possible and have ordered the Slackware Linux Essentials book. One thing that keeps popping up is how to determine what directory holds what information on a more in-depth scale. I know /dev is for devices and /etc is for configuring things like network services and stuff, but how does one know to use a certain command for a certain task? Like, processor speed, memory, stuff of this nature. I've googlized til I'm blue in the face, but am not sure of the keywords to type in google cuz I'm not really sure how to ask. Thanks ahead of time for any help on this.


~LoadedMind

 

[AP81]

Always good to see a fellow Slacker

Here's a quick overview of a typical file system:

/bin - Essential user programs. This includes stuff such as filesystem commands (ls, mv, cp, etc.)

/boot - Files which are used by LILO

/dev - devices

/etc - holds system configuration files, such as X config, startup scripts, user database

/home - home is your user directory for your personal files. e.g mine is /home/adam. Every user will have their own and can specificy which Windows Mangener to initialize, etc.

/lib - This contains system libraries, such as the C library and ncurses, etc.

/lost+found - Every time the system boots, it checks the filesystems for errors. Errors corrected by the fsck program are written here.

/mnt - a directory which is used for a temporary mount point.

/opt - directory for optional software packages

/proc - Virtual system that provides access to the kernel information

/root - the admins directory.

/sbin - programs run by root and boot-up process.

/tmp - a temporary storage location

/usr - Probably the biggest directory. Holds programs, docs, X windows, kernel source, etc.

/var - holds log files, cache, etc.

Most tasks don't require that you need to be in any specific directory. Have a good read of your manual and you will find more about commands. As for things such as CPU usage and so on, here's a few commands you might be interested in:

ps -aux (gives info about processes, CPU & memory usage, etc)
top (lists the resources in order from highest to lowest about load average, number of processes, CPU status, free memory, etc)
du (shows disk usage)

Another applet I use is called gkrellm, which is a little tool that sits on your desktop that monitors your swap file, CPU usage, free memory and processes as well as network activity. It is well worth downloading.

 

[loadedmind]

Sheer Awesomeness! Thanks a million. So let it be written, so let it be done. =) This info is going into my already huge list of Linux Notes I've compiled. It's been awhile since I've been this anticipated about the arrival of a book, but I definitely am!



Again, thanks!

~LoadedMind

"The username comes from a time where I had 4 certs to take back-to-back and decided to scour forums in search of info. Had to pick a username - the rest is history"