Lab46 Wiki

During the last two weeks of classes, I have spent my time becoming more familiar with Lab46 by logging in the pod systems, opening up a terminal and logging on to Lab46. I was able to start exploring before the semester started because I already had my user name and password. I have never taken the time to get comfortable working within a UNIX system even though I have had previous classes which required me to use it. I have always found myself fumbling around on Lab46 and learning only what I needed to accomplish the required assignments. I didn't have the time to explore Lab46 and UNIX to even have the opportunity to truly appreciate it.

I have learned that UNIX is a type of operating system, which is primarily used by the command line. In the Lair the local host is the pod of which I am on and Lab46 is the remote host. SRC directory is our repository,

• whoami returns the users name that is currently logged on
  
• who list all the current users on the system
  
• ls list prints the contents of the directory
  
• touch creates a blank file
  
• nano is a text-editor
  
• cat concatenates or sends the output of one or more files to the screen
  
• less allows me to read a file with many pages easily
  
• more allows me to read a file with many pages easily
  
• cp copy, which creates a copy of a file or a directory
  
• mv moves a file or directory to a new location
  
• rm removes a file
  
• file prints the type of file
  
• df shows the partitions and file systems of the computer
  
• chmod changes the shield on the file system
  
• ln links two files together
  
• q to quit
  
• du tells how much space

We also discussed file permissions, which consists of 10 symbols. These symbols are in sections to identify the type of file, the user, the group, and other.
There are 3 types of files: regular, directory, and special.
Each of the 10 spaces is occupied with a “r”- read access, “w” write access, “x” access to the directory, or “-” when denied permissions. Each are weighted differently. R=4, w=2, x=1, and -=0. When a user has all permissions the values will add up to 7.

What action or concept of significance, as related to the course, did you experience on this date? During these first two weeks of classes I was actually able to start feeling a sense of comfort with navigating the system. I didn't feel lost and confused. In the past I would just type in commands in a certain order to achieve a goal without truly understand why I was doing it.

Why was this significant? This was an important revelation for me. In the past I felt inferior to others in the class because of my lack of knowledge, but with UNIX I already have a bit of an understanding of what we are doing, rather than feeling lost. This has allowed me to continue to pay attention in class and spend time outside of class learning new material rather than fumbling around as I have in the past.

What concepts are you dealing with that may not make perfect sense? I understand the concept of file permissions, but I am not clear on when to use them, how to change them, and when it is necessary to change them. I understand it is based on what you want others to have access to and to be able to change, but I don't know when each of those are necessary.

What challenges are you facing with respect to the course? I am definitely struggling to keep up with the reading. I know that is just a matter of time management and prioritization. I would also like to learn more about using IRC and the benefits of it. I hope we spend more time on this topic.