Meeting Linux for the first time can be a puzzling experience for new users. Here’s a short article about what a Windows user has to expect from the operating system.
When you spend one half of your life using Windows, switching to Linux can be a little bit confusing at first. Just like any other new thing in your life, it may need growing accustomed to it. While Linux may look similar at first, there are some things you need to know before you embark on your Linux journey.
The filesystem
It is radically different than what you know from Windows. While in XP or Vista you have your Program Files and Windows directories, each with their sets of subdirectories, the folder structure in Linux is composed of several directories, each displayed in a tree format. For example, 90% of the configuration files for the application and system reside in the /etc folder. Most subfolders you’ll encounter here belong to one or multiple other applications or the system itself. The /boot folder holds the kernel (core of the operating system) and the configuration files needed by the bootloader.
/usr is where your programs will be installed. You can compare /usr to your Program Files from Windows. /usr/bin is where almost all program binaries go. I say almost because some system utilities will be installed in the /bin directory located in the root of your partition. /var contains your logs and in most Linux distributions is also the place where your Apache web server root will be located, if you chose to install the server.
/media (also named /mnt in some cases) is where you’ll find your harddisks, mounted USB drives, the CD-ROM and DVD-ROM drives and other mobile storage devices. The system needs to mount these as directories, just like you have to mount a network drive while in Windows.
/root belongs to the root user. The root user holds absolute power over the system. He is the system administrator and this account should be used sparingly. Launching certain commands with root privileges could be harmful for your system, just like in Windows.
/opt is the place where some 3rd-party applications will install their files. It is seldom used by programmers as a place for their applications.
/lib will hold your library files. Library files can be best compared to Windows .DLL files.
Finally, the /home directory is where all your user files are. When you create an account, a folder that bares the same name as the username will be created under this /home directory. Subfolders in your /home/username/ directory can hold data for the application you installed, your personal files, pictures, videos and documents.
Applications
You won’t find an .EXE in Linux. Executable files (also called binaries) become executable not by extension but by permissions. If a file has executable permissions, then you can… well… execute it. If you ever used FTP to upload files and change permissions for those files, you’ll understand better how this works.
Files in UNIX-like systems can be readable, writable, executable, or a combination of these three (RW, RWX, RX, WX). A BASH script for example will open just as a regular file if it doesn’t have the executable bit set on it. Put an X permission on it and it will launch just as a regular program.
However, stay assured, you will rarely need to modify permissions for applications as they come with all their necessary permissions already set.
When it comes to installing applications, you can do it just as you did in Windows: search for it, download, double click, install. There are other, faster ways to install applications in Linux. Depending on your Linux distribution, you’ll be able to access software repositories. These are basically servers holding software packages. Through a command line or GUI program you can search for the application you desire and install it in just under 10 seconds, cutting the time you otherwise use to actually search for the software.
Permissions
Linux is very strict with permissions. Trying to install a program as a regular user will in most cases be greeted with a password window asking for permission to setup the new software package. Modifying system files and configuration files belonging to global applications also require permissions.
Keep these things in mind before you start using Linux for the first time. Many new users are puzzled enough by the new operating system they’re experiencing and get frustrated when they don’t understand why things are like they are.
All new things have a certain learning curve that you’ll need to pass through, but I hope this would have been a useful introduction.
6 Responses
Good article! Though people may understand Linux is different, it is good to prepare them before letting them jump in the big black hole.
Cheers,
Maarten
Thanks for the appreciation Marteen. I wrote another one about the benefits of open-source and submitted it for approval. If all goes OK it should appear by tomorrow.
I liked this article all the way down to “Installing software is the same as in windows…” You can’t be serious? One out of every ten times you try to install a package can you simply download, double-click, install. I run a Debian fork, so yes, clicking on a .deb file from the internet will attempt to install it for you. Most packages, however, are tarballs. Not so simple to install. Especially for noobs.
While I like your intent, I think your misleading statements are actually a step for the worse. Be honest. Explain Linux’s strengths, as apposed to comparing it to windows. What of the “Free, as in Freedom” ideology behind Linux.
Yes, while I have migrated successfully from Windows, I am a little computer literate. With a lot of research and breaking my system several times over did I begin to understand the complexities of Linux.
While I agree that it is a better operating system (stability-wise), it’s arguably not that user-friendly. You have to think, 80% of your computer users are your average “just want to surf the web, upload pictures, play movies, play music and sync their MP3 players.
While you can do this in Linux, not as easy as windows. Sorry, it’s true. Most Linux users are PowerUsers. You understand computers better than the average Joe. You make the other 20%.
If Linux is going to defeat Microsoft and Apple, they need to get off of their Power-User-only high horse; and it’s posts like these that really confuse noobs.
“Installing software is the same as in windows…”
No, in Ubuntu it’s much easier. Search either in Synaptic Package Manager,
or learn how to use apt-cache and apt-get.
Not 10 or 15 mous-clicks as in Windows. Ubuntu (and Debian) have thousands
of packages already available in the repositories.
If you want to play all kind of movie- and audio-formats, try the howto
at http://www.medibuntu.org/
@Zohso: i’d like to differ a little bit.
Yes, most software comes gzipped. But then again, there’s also RPM and TGZ. While I use Ubuntu as my main operating system, all I need to tell another Ubuntu user I initiated is “use DEB files”. That’s it. Not even an advanced Windows user will chose compiling over installing a simple EXE. Same goes for Linux: why compile it when you can double-click on a pre-made DEB/RPM/chose_package file? I met Windows users trying to “install” PPS files as applications, without even having an office suite to open them in. Do you not tell them it doesn’t work like that?
The double-click to install controversy is tied to Linux’s nature, and that is diversity. We have Debian-based distributions, Slackware-based distributions, distros that use RPM as a package management system and then there’s the rest (Gentoo ebuilds, Arch apps etc). Just as you have to instruct a new Linux user which ones are which, and when one downloads a TGZ or TAR.GZ file on a Debian system, all you have to tell him is “here, have a DEB from that site”.
Regarding the power-user/newbie problem:
My father is has long passed his 60th anniversary and is working as a lawyer. He is just as much puzzled by Windows as he is by Linux. He’s been using Vector Linux (mind that, not a more friendly Ubuntu or Fedora) for 5 if not 6 years now. He had no problems whatsoever in his time as a Linux user execpt this one instance when he bought a new printer and I had to go to his office and set it up. Just as I would have had to do if he would have been using Windows.
There’s your average Joe User, running Linux on his business and home computer. He knows that the icon labeled “Internet” is where he can read his morning news and that the other icon is for writing text. He knows how to print and knows how to play a game or two from those preinstalled. that’s it.
Like you said, 80% are not using computers to do coding, administer networks or do 3D editing. But of those 80%, 90% within don’t actually know how to install applications, be it in Linux or Windows. They don’t know how to setup a network connection or even access network shares. This is my experience as a network administrator and IT journalist: people don’t want to know these things.
I have to completely agree with you Razvan Teodor Coloja. When you mentioned your father, my mother instantly came to mind. She’s exactly as you mentioned for the 80% folk.
While I do agree, using Synaptic in Ubuntu is much, much simpler. Choose the application you want to use and click apply – how much simpler could it get?
My complaint was with the comparison made to windows – “Search, download, install.” It’s a play on words saying that they can carry what they know from windows and apply it to Linux. And while a lot of packages I use do have .deb packages, not all do. Usually you have to wait for someone to package it. Could be immediately, could be days before someone packages it.
So, while we can all agree on the simplicity of Linux when using the Synaptic/RPM/YaST, repositories – you cannot directly compare it to windows as it’s nothing like windows. That’s like saying a dumptruck is the same as a Ferrari, but with a few distinct differences – no, other than both having wheels and a place to sit, they are totally different.
Those wanting a seamless transition to Linux should not be confused as to how they are to acquire software. Sometimes you get a .deb/.rpm from a website, sometimes you get a tarball that you must compile yourself, and other times you have to simply apt-get it through a terminal (command-line). We needn’t be cryptic here folks. It is what it is. Why mislead anyone.