[SOLVED] How To make custom links?

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T_Characht3r

[SOLVED] How To make custom links?

Post by T_Characht3r »

How do I make my own links to directories, that I can name it what I want and choose where the link points?
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wwfwng
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Re: How To make custom links?

Post by wwfwng »

Right click on the directory and select "Make Link". Right click the link and rename it. Move the link to wherever you want it.
AscLinux
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Re: How To make custom links?

Post by AscLinux »

The above may work, depending on your file manager. Using ln from command line works always.
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Starkman

Re: How To make custom links?

Post by Starkman »

AscLinux wrote: Thu Apr 04, 2019 11:45 am The above may work, depending on your file manager. Using ln from command line works always.
Could you give us an example, mate?
T_Characht3r

Re: How To make custom links?

Post by T_Characht3r »

wwfwng wrote: Thu Apr 04, 2019 11:09 am Right click on the directory and select "Make Link". Right click the link and rename it. Move the link to wherever you want it.
How do I right-click "Computer"?
Starkman

Re: How To make custom links?

Post by Starkman »

T_Characht3r wrote: Thu Apr 04, 2019 11:17 pm How do I right-click "Computer"?
Easier: press Ctrl+Shift and drag the target file or directory off to a side or into another window and release. That will create a shortcut...link (darned Windows is still in my head!). You can then rename it.
T_Characht3r

Re: How To make custom links?

Post by T_Characht3r »

ok, thnx. :)
Starkman

Re: How To make custom links?

Post by Starkman »

Coitenly! :)
wwfwng
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Re: How To make custom links?

Post by wwfwng »

T_Characht3r wrote: Thu Apr 04, 2019 11:17 pm
wwfwng wrote: Thu Apr 04, 2019 11:09 am Right click on the directory and select "Make Link". Right click the link and rename it. Move the link to wherever you want it.
How do I right-click "Computer"?
I use Mate. I can put "Computer" on my Desktop by going into Control Center, selecting Desktop Settings, and selecting Computer.
AscLinux
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Re: How To make custom links?

Post by AscLinux »

Starkman wrote: Thu Apr 04, 2019 9:07 pm
AscLinux wrote: Thu Apr 04, 2019 11:45 am The above may work, depending on your file manager. Using ln from command line works always.
Could you give us an example, mate?
Hint: you can wait until someone searches the net for you (slow) > Linky <

... or you can read the man page and search the net all by yourself (much faster). :P
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Starkman

Re: How To make custom links?

Post by Starkman »

Yeah, yeah, okay! :)

I did look up ln in Bash (-help and the man command)...uh...no, that's simply not going to get past the first brain cell (of the two I have) in my head. And running around Google, trying to figure stuff like this out is so darned difficult half the time. (Sure, it gets easier, perhaps, once you have a clue, but until then it's a living nightmare half the time.)

For some of us non-technical types, the amount of reading and processing for finding Linux-related information is so far more time consuming than to just see it in action. Okay, sure, that means it might take a few minutes for someone to give an example (like the one I asked for here), but that simple example, with a quick blurb about what it does is gold as a starting point for future searching and reading; show me see an example of how to use ln to, say, create a link on the Desktop of a file or directory, and I can go from there. Tell me to search myself and figure out, I could be spending a long time trying to do that.

Case in point. For ln or link, tell me to go read this this as a starting point and I'm going to be there a while. Give me an example first of what's going on when you create a link in the terminal, and I can then put two and two together a bit quicker when I go to that document.

This idea that the more information available, the easier it is. Nope! Doesn't work that way (well, for some maybe). There's just way too much information out there to wade through, and so much of it is written in shop talk instead of simple layman's terms. All more information means (at least until you're familiar with the subject), is more time, effort and work just to find the information, decipher it and then digest it. Googling is NOT the beginning, human interaction is. Yes, it might mean a bit more time from, say, AscLinux, to give a quick demo, but that effort can make it so much easier for future study for a lot of people who read the post.
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Flemur
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Re: How To make custom links?

Post by Flemur »

Starkman wrote: Fri Apr 05, 2019 12:26 pmI did look up ln in Bash (-help and the man command)...uh...no, that's simply not going to get past the first brain cell (of the two I have) in my head.
You do this:

Code: Select all

ln -s real-file fake-file
"real-file" is an existing file that you want to link to.
"fake-file" is the link.

Fer example ..."wine" by default looks for its stuff in $HOME/.wine, but I don't want a bunch of files in my $HOME, so I put the actual wine data on another partition and make a link to it:

Code: Select all

ln -s /mnt/DATA/wine32 $HOME/.wine
"/mnt/DATA/wine32" is an existing directory with wine's files in it. In a directory (ls -al) listing it looks like:

Code: Select all

.wine -> /mnt/DATA/wine32
The have the same files:

Code: Select all

$ ls /mnt/DATA/wine32
dosdevices  drive_c  system.reg  user.reg  userdef.reg	winetricks.log
$ ls $HOME/.wine
dosdevices  drive_c  system.reg  user.reg  userdef.reg	winetricks.log
I can remove the .wine link without removing what it points to.
For some of us non-technical types, the amount of reading and processing for finding Linux-related information is so far more time consuming than to just see it in action.
"man" (or --help) documentation is usually complete but poorly written and lacks useful examples, e.g. "ln" documentation has no examples at all.
Please edit your original post title to include [SOLVED] if/when it is solved!
Your data and OS are backed up....right?
Starkman

Re: How To make custom links?

Post by Starkman »

Goodness, Flemur, that was much more than I would have hoped for!

I get it. So Wine thinks it's where it's supposed to be but it's really on another partition.
I went ahead and tried creating a link in my own personal file in /home, and it worked. I see that now.

Thanks.

So TAKE THAT, askLinux! (kidding ya)
T_Characht3r

Re: How To make custom links?

Post by T_Characht3r »

And I tried it, But it did the "Creating link" thingy and it never finished it.
I am trying to make a custom link to my computer on my desktop.
Starkman

Re: How To make custom links?

Post by Starkman »

Well, once the main Computer icon is on the Desktop, I just click it to activate it, then I press Ctrl+Shift and then, while holding it, click and drag that icon somewhere else on my Desktop; it may say "Link to..." But I just rename it. Otherwise, I don't know.
T_Characht3r

Re: How To make custom links?

Post by T_Characht3r »

BTW, I use Linux mint 18.3 Cinnamon 32-bit. but I haven't yet had any luck.
Isn't there like some sort of 'link file' That I can make, that just requires some line of code?
I just want to change the name of my shortcut.
wwfwng
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Re: How To make custom links?

Post by wwfwng »

T_Characht3r wrote: Sun Apr 07, 2019 2:15 am BTW, I use Linux mint 18.3 Cinnamon 32-bit. but I haven't yet had any luck.
Isn't there like some sort of 'link file' That I can make, that just requires some line of code?
I just want to change the name of my shortcut.
I have aliases written into my .cshrc file (note I'm using C-shell) that I use to open directories from Terminal. You could do that or write a shell script.
Hoser Rob
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Re: How To make custom links?

Post by Hoser Rob »

Syminks are basically file pointers. You want to be judicious with them or you could turn your directory tree into spaghetti.
For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong - H. L. Mencken
T_Characht3r

Re: How To make custom links?

Post by T_Characht3r »

ok. i kinda give up for now xD
oh well, thanks anyways.
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