"C:\Program Files" in Mint 17.3

[Habitual]

terminal >

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whereis <program>

Linux Command Line Learning Resources

[Reorx]

In a terminal >>>

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dpkg --get-selections > Installed_Package_List

Then open your home folder and click on Installed_Package_List

[Flemur]

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echo $PATH

will show the locations of all the executables you can normally run wwithout specifying a complete path to them - just the locations (directories) they're in.

This script will show you a program name given part of the name:

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#!/bin/bash
#
if [ $# -lt 1 ]
then
  echo Usage: `basename $0` pattern
  exit 1
fi
echo $PATH | sed 's/^/ls -A /' | sed 's/:/ |grep '$1'; ls -A /g' | sed 's/$/ |grep '$1'/' | bash | sort
exit 0

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$
$ W dvd
convxdvd
dvd+rw-booktype
dvd+rw-format
dvd+rw-mediainfo
dvd-ram-control
$
$ W dpkg
dpkg
dpkg-architecture
dpkg-buildflags
...lots more

When you know the name of an executable, you can do

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$ which dpkg-architecture
/usr/bin/dpkg-architecture

[Moem]

feels like its very easy to install a program and hide it and the user never know its there?

Then again, you'd need a password with sudo rights to be able to do that. So it's not like any stranger who is near your computer can do such a thing.

[Habitual]

Try the C:\USER GUIDE\
in mintwelcome.

[karlchen]

that means you need to know each of their names? what about programs not listed in the menus? - is there a command to list every installed program? like for example tor isn't listed in menus and installed.

Fine. The same challenge exists on Windows as well.
"Programs & Functions" only lists the applications which have been added there by the corresponding setup programs / installers.
Windows brings along a lot of commandline executables which most users will never know about.
These commandline executables will not appear in the Windows applications menus. Much like on Linux.

On Linux Mint you can e.g. use Synaptic to list all installed software packages, no matter whether the applications appear in the application menu or not. You can right click each of the packages, select properties and list "installed files". Will be a lot of work if you try to do so for each installed software package; but handy if you just want to check for a small number of applications.

Beware:
Applications which have been installed circumventing the software management system will not be listed by Synaptic.

[0ddity]

Why can't he just browse to /usr/share/applications? Coming from windows, that is what I would consider the equivalent to the C:\Program Files directory.

[karlchen]

Hi, 0ddity.

Why can't he just browse to /usr/share/applications? Coming from windows, that is what I would consider the equivalent to the C:\Program Files directory.

You are absolutely free to set up any hypothesis in the world, even if it turns out to be pretty wrong in the end.
"Coming from Windows" is all right, but you should arrive at Linux at some point in time and let go of the Windows way of looking at things.

Oh, just in case no-one should have mentioned so in this thread before:
/usr/bin is the place where you will find representations of almost all installed applications.
Representation means:
+ Frequently the (only) executable file of an application / commandline tool is located here
+ Frequently the start script which launches an application is located here
+ Frequently a symbolic link to either of the 2 items named above is located here.

Cheers,
Karl

[Cosmo.]

Coming from windows, that is what I would consider the equivalent to the C:\Program Files directory.

Do it the other way round: Try to search in Windows for paths, that you have in Linux. You will obviously already fail at the beginning.
This means: Linux and Windows are 2 completely different OS. They have more or less only one thing in common: Running a computer with the same base concept of the hardware.

[Habitual]

The problem, or a contributing factor among new users is the tendency to associate every thing on the system as the OSs. "in Mint 17.3" for example. ", but this sometimes is the only frame of reference they have.
"How does Linux do it?" I always found a better question than "If Windows does it this way, it should follow Linux does too.". Wrong.

You need to learn the Linux FileSystem, not where the heck the non-existent equivalent to C:\PROGRAM FILES\
"is".

Open a terminal and issue:

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man hier

And then "surf" on over to http://tldp.org/ and search for filesystem and learn at your own pace.

Think of Windows as a set of Standard wrenches in a toolbox.
Think of Linux as a set of Metric wrenches in a toolbox.
A good mechanic doesn't spend much time on what made the differences, he just knows there is one and he has to adjust.

Don't mistake motion for effort, son.
Buy a Linux book, Hard Copy, Tree "Killing" book on Linux.
Anything published in the last 15 years (not a stretch) devotes the first 5 or 6 chapters to "introductory topics"
such as the filesystem.
Learn those 5 or 6 chapters well.

Now, Go Fish.


Who ya calling "Hannibal"?

[JEB]

Perhaps, Software Manager > View > uncheck available packages. Select a category, only installed packages will be shown.

[Hoser Rob]

The first thing you need to get away from is the idea of a C: (or whatever) drive in Linux. The file system is organized differently, and it's not based on physical drives. It's a log based system and root (/) is the closest equivalent. To the system your drives are really just folders, but the ones you're using when you log in are protected. You can't unmount them when using them.

Here's a good explanaiton of where programs are stored in your file system:

http://askubuntu.com/questions/27213/wh ... o-things-g

[BG405]

I've always seen the "C drive" as a partition but that's because since the early 2000s I've always set up separate partitions for the OS, DATA, Swap and, where appropriate, a working partition (for video editing etc.). Seems this is more the Linux way even though I didn't realize it until I changed over, therefore the Linux setup made perfect sense once I'd sort-of familiarized myself with the directory structure.

Unless you're actually dealing with Windows systems there's no point in thinking of things in the Windows way. It's nice and refreshing!

[Habitual]

For the sick and twisted out there, open a terminal and issue:

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DOS='C:${PWD//\//\\\}>'
PS1="\[\033[00m\]\[\033[00m\]\[\033[01;39m\]$DOS\[\033[00m\]" 

Get you some!

[Moem]

I just want to be able to run my programs from the folders they are in not the menus

But the menu entries do exactly that. They are links to the programs in the folders where they are. Can you explain your reasoning?

[Habitual]

thanks for all the posts ill read these at work tomorrow and see what sense i can make of it all.

I just want to be able to run my programs from the folders they are in not the menus

And you can. You just don't know where they are "at". Just like DOS, you likely have a "$PATH" environment variable in your "shell".
Just like DOS' "$PATH" statement, I don't need to know where commands are at, if I have a GUI, and that's all the GUI basically is, a "collection of tools" (that you don't know where they are) organized nicely into some tidy categories on the menus.
Your "$PATH" is just a shortcut to directories you are not in, correct?

I admire your desire to "look under the 'hood". It's a rare quality.
It takes a certain grit to realize there's way more going on "under" the desktop than on it,
and going for it! So I kinda of get it.

The desktop doesn't even matter to guys like me, or you?.
I just hope you stay grounded.
Here's 3 methods to locate binaries on most Linux-based OSs.
These likely work regardless of desktop.

Method #1:
If you want to know where say tcpdump is on your system , open your terminal, (who am I talking to? or switch to a new one ) and issue

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whereis -b tcpdump

and it shows here with

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whereis -b tcpdump
tcpdump: /usr/sbin/tcpdump

I used -b because I read man whereis and I know that tcpdump is a binary,
so I used it.
IDK if tcpdump is installed on your system. but pick a binary ("Application" if you will)

Method #2:

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find / -name tcpdump -type f | grep bin
/usr/sbin/tcpdump

and poke around.

Method #3:

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man locate

is your friend.
Update the locate db using this as root:

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updatedb

then

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locate tcpdump | grep bin

and poke around.

Oh, just in case no-one should have mentioned so in this thread before:
/usr/bin is the place where you will find representations of almost all installed applications.
Representation means:
+ Frequently the (only) executable file of an application / commandline tool is located here
+ Frequently the start script which launches an application is located here
+ Frequently a symbolic link to either of the 2 items named above is located here.

Cheers,
Karl

Thanks Karl. You rock.

[Cosmo.]

I just want to be able to run my programs from the folders they are in not the menus

No problem. Open a terminal or the command-line window (alt-F2) and enter the command-name. Usually the start binaries or links to them are stored in /usr/bin (already mentioned by karlchen), so entering the name is enough (e.g. firefox).

[Hoser Rob]

One thing you should know to get a better understanding of why so many things are separate folders like /home for user data is that Linux is a Unix derivative. And Unix, unlike Windows, was designed from the start to be multiuser and multitasking. Whereas those things have had to be added to Windows, and often not very well. Linux has never assumed that you're the only user on the computer.

[Cosmo.]

Linux has never assumed that you're the only user on the computer.

Right, but even more importantly: Linux and (Unix, primarily used as server-OS, where you hardly find multiple user accounts) never assumed, that system (inclusive program) file and user data have to get mixed. In the days of Windows 9x you could find them partly even inside the Windows folder (brrr )

[Arch_Enemy]

The problem, or a contributing factor among new users is the tendency to associate every thing on the system as the OSs. "in Mint 17.3" for example. ", but this sometimes is the only frame of reference they have.
"How does Linux do it?" I always found a better question than "If Windows does it this way, it should follow Linux does too.". Wrong.

You need to learn the Linux FileSystem, not where the heck the non-existent equivalent to C:\PROGRAM FILES\
"is".

Open a terminal and issue:

Code: Select all

man hier

And then "surf" on over to http://tldp.org/ and search for filesystem and learn at your own pace.

Think of Windows as a set of Standard wrenches in a toolbox.
Think of Linux as a set of Metric wrenches in a toolbox.
A good mechanic doesn't spend much time on what made the differences, he just knows there is one and he has to adjust.

Don't mistake motion for effort, son.
Buy a Linux book, Hard Copy, Tree "Killing" book on Linux.
Anything published in the last 15 years (not a stretch) devotes the first 5 or 6 chapters to "introductory topics"
such as the filesystem.
Learn those 5 or 6 chapters well.

Now, Go Fish.


Who ya calling "Hannibal"?

This helps immensely. You might also get a copy with a DVD of a new installation to try as well!

Boy, you guys sure are patient! Way back in 2002 I got into a Linux newsgroup (remember UseNet???) and asked a similar question, and I thought about half the people there were going to track me down and lynch me The other half were understanding and helped immensely. One of them used a Linux /= Windows and I said, Huh? and another replied that not knowing that meant Linux was starting to move away from programmers and finally starting to go mainstream. Ten years ago this guy would have been flamed to shame for asking a C:\ question!

To the OP: a book may seem overwhelming, and it certainly IS but it is also a great aid when starting Linux. You won't understand everything in there, you don't really need to, but if you actually DO and can master it Linux Admins make $$$$$

Here's another hint to find you program files. It works better in Arch, but has some usability in Mint as well.

Open up synaptic, click search, enter a term for the program or utility you want to find, even partial will usually work. Look at all the installed (green boxed) packages installed, click on the package name and then look at the bottom and click "Installed Files" and it will tell you where the various items of the package is installed.