*BSD News Article 68568


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Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions,comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc,comp.unix.advocacy
Path: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au!newshost.anu.edu.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!news.mel.connect.com.au!munnari.OZ.AU!news.ecn.uoknor.edu!solace!nntp.uio.no!news.cais.net!bofh.dot!world1.bawave.com!newsfeed.internetmci.com!openlink.one-o.com!rossix!joelga
From: joelga@rossinc.com (Joel Garry)
Subject: Re: I have a mass of a headache. Please help....
Message-ID: <1996May15.134244.13250@rossinc.com>
Organization: Ross Systems, Inc.
References: <AAT4Acn0Y8@eves.freenet.kiev.ua>
Date: Wed, 15 May 1996 13:42:44 GMT
Lines: 53
Xref: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au comp.unix.questions:81812 comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc:19409 comp.unix.advocacy:20478

In article <AAT4Acn0Y8@eves.freenet.kiev.ua> sergey@eves.freenet.kiev.ua writes:
>I've just set up FreeBSD on my 486 PC (before I'd been using MSDOS)
>and obtained a mass of a headache.:~-(
>Who can explain my stupid question:
>
>-What is a 'File system' from the UNIX' point of view;
It is a collection of files.  It is organized in a hierarchical directory
system that was sort-of copied to make ms-dos.  So it's not much different,
but has more stuff, and can be automatically fixed by a program.

>-How can I explore it in my computer like MSDOS user

1.  Drink mass quantities of cheap vodka until you pass out.

2.  When you wake up, your headache will be worse.  Eventually, you will
feel better and discover you want to work with unix, not against it.
The secret of unix is to divide all problems into small parts.  There
will be a program with an obscure set of switches to deal with each part.
You use shell programming to put all the parts together.  This is far
more powerful and useful than .BAT programs.

If you mean, "how can I figure out which files are on the computer like
with XTREE," what I usually do when I'm on a new unix system that I need
to check out, is:

ls -laR / > xxx; vi xxx

which creates a directory of everything on the computer, puts it in a file
called xxx, then puts you in a full screen editor with simple commands,
that is on every unix system.  You should learn the find command to really
be proficient on unix, but learn the basics about ls first.

>-Where can I get regular information about UNIX.

Learn how to use the man pages, if you haven't already.

There are a zillion books on unix, many of which you can get through mail
order.  Try bookquestions@ora.com (I'm not sure of the exact sales address), 
which is O'Reilly and associates.  For basic knowledge, you might try _The 
UNIX Programming Environment_ by Kernighan and Pike.  When you start getting
the hang of it, try _Unix Power Tools_ by Peek, O'Reilly and Loukides.

>
>My greatest thanks to all who can help.
>
>sergey@eves.freenet.kiev.ua


-- 
Joel Garry               joelga@rossinc.com               Compuserve 70661,1534
These are my opinions, not necessarily those of Ross Systems, Inc.   <> <>
%DCL-W-SOFTONEDGEDONTPUSH, Software On Edge - Don't Push.            \ V /
panic: ifree: freeing free inodes...                                   O