For a better understanding of how the Linux Filesystem differs from what is familiar to Windows® users, take a look at
The next screen capture illustrates directory browsing using WineFile the Windows Explorer® equivalent of WinE. For the readers who are unfamiliar with WinE (the technology, not the beverage), WinE is FREE software, packaged as part of a Fedora Core, one of the most popular, most stable GNU/Linux distributions, as well as many other Linux distros which recognize the public desire to use the multitude of software available for Windows®. Fedora however happens to be unique in that it is packaged for distribution completely devoid of any software which isn't Open Source. The gracious Gurus who develop WinE, the 32 bit Windows® Operating System Emulation Software, are recognized for distributing FREE (Open Source) software which enables users to run software developed for Windows®: the countless software apps often standard to the Office, a workplace, or Small Business Enterprise management. From home users with a variety of everyday uses both leisurely and important, to businesses, some of which rely on a budget which simply doesn't allow the luxury of business systems, WinE literally makes available to everyone the advantage of running industry-standard software at home, or on business systems. WinE itself is FREE, and it's designed to emulate Windows® while running on a GNU/Linux Operating System, the likes of which many are also FREE to use. Fedora, for example, where WinE is part of the standard packaging, is a cutting-edge Operating System which is aqcuired by a FREE download [or by mail for a nominal cost of postage packaging]; which is FREE to install on several systems; which is FREE to use on every PC in the office, or at home. Fledgling businesses which might otherwise forgo the installation of computer systems can now consider the WinE alternative as a viable option. Thanks to WinE, we can run all of the most popular ‘Windows®-based’ software, and can do so on systems without a required installation of systems equipped with Windows®, or at an even greater expense, the purchase of new Windows® equipped workstations to support the software.
the image below shows the WinE file manager, Wine File. WinE is an amazing software, but indeed WineFile itself is eclipsed in features and functionality by our more familiar friends such as Konqueror, Nautilus, and of course the filesystem manager it seems to want to imitate, Windows Explorer®, though WineFile might be perhaps more reminiscent of the File Manager in from Windows 3.1 systems (if you're old enough to remember that thing!). I've included this screen capture merely to satisfy the curious, in hopes that perhaps it may help the reader to understand some inherent differences between the Linux filesystem, at the way files are structured on Windows drives, where the user has Drive Letters like C:, D:, E:, etc.
What you see in this image is WineFile showing the Z: path to C:. C: would represent the same as C:, the root drive on Windows, but in Linux, since it's not the root of the system, it makes sense that it must be structured within a subfolder. But, a subfolder of what? Good question! Since Linux doesn't have the same type of drive-letter named structures, WinE creates one called "Z:". So, what is in Gnome†, or KDE† as simply the Linux Filesystem Root for those of you who are curious, that's WinE's way of emulating the Named Drives and Drive Letters as in the Windows® O/S method of visualizing the file structure on the hard drive. Linux users of course know that the Filesystem really has no "drive letters", but merely "mount points"-- nevertheless-- we apparently need this association for WinE to to better realize a true emulation of Windows.
And that's just a little Show-n-Tell for you all! ;-)
If you're as confused in reading this as i have been in trying to author it in some fashion for being more easily understood, and if you're at all interested in truly understanding the UNIX Filesystem, please have at least a cursury look at this extraordinarily credible document, all about the Filesystem. Thanks for reading!
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