NETW240

What is better when executing a command from the CLI, feedback or no feedback?

From a general standpoint it would be meaningless to deem feedback as unnecessary or negative. To start off, a user would mainly come across the feedback that will save them time and effort because any confirming dialog that asks a user if they're certain with their decision would save them from overwriting when they may not want to. As developers, we are constantly tempted to thinking that if the code works, then the feature is done; but the user might not even know that the feature is ready and working unless they have proper feedback. Giving the user some feedback around critical sections of your software will go a long way. At worst, good feedback is harmless, and at best it will save someone from deleting their HDD. "make sure your software gives the user proper feedback". That is why feedback is so important: a simple confirmation dialog saying something like "this command will completely overwrite the destination file at device x, are you sure you want to continue?" might have made me think twice, and I might have saved a couple of hours of sleep

In Linux, all libraries are located in the /lib folder, whereas in the Windows OS, the libraries start out in the /system32 folder. What happens when you install a new program in both of these machines?

It's true that /usr/bin contains the program binaries. /usr contains the programs and related files meant for users and the /usr/bin command allows you to locate them. But if you wanted to run a specific version of a program and or modify the source code then using /usr/local/bin is necessary to compile software. The /usr hierarchy contains the programs and related files meant for users. (The original Unix makers had a thing for abbreviation.) The /usr/bin directory contains the program binaries. If you just installed a software package and don't know where the binary went, this is the first place to look. A typical desktop system will have many programs here. The /usr hierarchy contains the programs and related files meant for users. (The original Unix makers had a thing for abbreviation.) The /usr/bin directory contains the program binaries. If you just installed a software package and don't know where the binary went, this is the first place to look. A typical desktop system will have many programs here.

What is the default shell used by Linux, and what other shells are available? What are some common CLI commands that can be used to check network status and connectivity?

Shell configuring system-wide options for as default Linux shell. In Fedora, bash is the shell command interpreter used by default (and therefore the one used for most of the examples in this chapter). Other shells, such as csh, tcsh, ksh, sh, and others, are also available in Fedora and are therefore also noted in this chapter. The Linux shell illustrated in this chapter is called the bash shell, which stands for Bourne Again SHell. The name is derived from the fact that bash is compatible with the first Unix shell: the Bourne shell (represented by the sh command). Bash is the default Linux shell. It is also the default on Mac OS X. If you use a shell other than the default bash shell in Fedora, in some cases you may see a percent sign (%) as the user prompt instead of the dollar sign. bash (Bourne Again SHell) is the default shell used by Linux and on Mac OS X. I noticed that another shell in Fedora may display a difference in the prompt such as the dollar sign and percent sign.

What advantages are offered by the Linux ext4 file system? Discuss the directory structure used by Linux. What are the uses of the following directories: /root, /bin, /sbin, /home, /etc., and /var?

There's other file systems available but ext4 was designed as an improvement to others including ext3 to support more files. The origin came with Fedora 11 which ext4 was the default file system. The extended file system was purposely made for Linux to improve performance & the handling of storage. Even Google opt for ext4. /root — Represents the root user's home directory. /bin — Contains common Linux user commands, such as ls, sort, date, and chmod. /sbin — Contains administrative commands and daemon processes. /home — Contains directories assigned to each user with a login account. /etc — Contains administrative configuration files. /var — Contains directories of data used by various applications. You can change any of the partitions you choose, provided that you have at least one root (/) partition that can hold the entire installation and one swap partition. To start it from a text login, log in as root and type the following from a terminal window: ext4 — An enhancement to ext3, this type of file system performs and scales better to larger numbers of files. Fedora 9 introduced the ext4 file system type as a preview release. With Fedora 11, ext4 became the default file system for Fedora. The root file system (/) is typically ext4 (although you can use other file systems too). Some older versions of Linux cannot handle a /boot file system of type ext4 (you need to use ext2 or ext3), but Fedora 12 and higher fully support a /boot in the ext4 file system type. The ext4 file system is the latest version of the ext file system (with ext3 being the prior standard). An ext4 file system can be mounted as an ext3 file system. Starting with Fedora 11, ext4 became the default file system for Linux. Different kinds of file systems have different structures. File systems of different types must be on their own partitions. In Fedora, you need at least one file system type for / (typically ext4) and one for your swap area. The type of file system that is installed on the disk partition. In most cases, the file system will be Linux (ext4), Win NTFS (ntfs) or VFAT (vfat), or Linux swap. However, you can also use the previous Linux file system (ext3), physical volume (LVM), or software RAID. In fact, LVM is used by default for your root file system when you install Fedora. This enables you to add more disk space later to that partition, if needed, without having to create a new partition. The ext4 file system is the latest version of the ext file system (with ext3 being the prior standard). An ext4 file system can be mounted as an ext3 file system. Starting with Fedora 11, ext4 became the default file system for Linux. See the Ext4 FAQ for information on creating and working with ext4 file systems: http://ext4.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/Frequently_Asked_Questions A how-to document helps you get started with ext4 file systems: http://ext4.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/Ext4_Howto To create an ext4 file system on the first partition of the second hard disk, type the following: For a regular Linux partition, choose ext4. You can also select LVM, swap, or VFAT as the file system type. You can change any of the partitions you choose, provided that you have at least one root (/) partition that can hold the entire installation and one swap partition. To start it from a text login, log in as root and type the following from a terminal window: /root — Represents the root user's home directory. /bin — Contains common Linux user commands, such as ls, sort, date, and chmod. /sbin — Contains administrative commands and daemon processes. /home — Contains directories assigned to each user with a login account. /etc — Contains administrative configuration files. /var — Contains directories of data used by various applications. In particular, this is where you would place files that you share as an FTP server (/var/ftp) or a Web server (/var/www). It also contains all system log files (/var/log). In time, FTP, HTTP, and similar services will move to the /srv directory to adhere to the Linux Standards Base (www.freestandards.org/spec).