File Management
Your file manager is the tool you use to navigate through the files on your computer. Your root directory, /, contains all the files that Linux is made of. Your home directory contains all of your personal files.
Take some time to learn the root file system. Figure out how Linux is organized and how it works. Keep in mind that Linux is always under construction. It is a moving target. It advances on a daily basis.
Many of the applications you install are located in the etc or the opt directories. You can edit configuration files there, but normally you edit configuration files in your home directory. You may have to create a config file for your application.
In your home directory, your configuration files are usually hidden. Some, like .zshrc and .vimrc, are individual files in your home directory. The dot in front of the file name indicates that it is a hidden file. Most configuration files are locate in the .config directory. Files in the .config directory do not need and should not have an additional dot.
The applications themselves are located in the /etc or /opt directory of the root directory and the ~/.local file. ~ means your home directory. If you are trying to completely remove an application from your system, you can rm -rf directory of the application you are trying to remove. You may have to use sudo, especially in /etc. If your having trouble getting rid of an application, look in /etc, /opt or ~/.local. Be careful, because sometimes removing one application may remove some shared file needed by other applications.
Use sudo apt update or sudo pkcon update often, sometimes several times every day. sudo apt upgrade brings Kubuntu up to date. Run sudo apt autoremove every once in a while, to remove old headers, etc. Then, every six months, there is a major upgrade to the next version of Ubuntu. LTS stands for Long Term Service and upgrades every two years. KDE Neon is a rolling release of the LTS version of Ubuntu. In other words, it updates often, but it only upgrades every two years.
Here’s an example of a Linux root file system from my Konsole. The first list is the list of directories. The second list is a list of the directories with quite a bit more information about the directories. ll is an alias for ls -l which means list long.
Linux Root Filesystem
The drwxrwxrwx is specifying the permissions for each directory. d specifies that it is a directory. The first rwx gives the superuser permission to read, write and execute that directory. The second rwx gives a group permission to do that. The third set gives everyone permission to read, write and execute that directory.
Dolphin
Of all the file managers I’ve ever used, Dolphin is my favorite, by far. All the other Linux file managers are too simple. Windows Explorer is too complicated and confusing.
I’ve seen a lot of video tutorials using a file browser on Mac, called Forklift, which looks pretty cool. I have never had a Mac, so I’m not sure if I would like it more than Dolphin.
Dolphin
I use Dolphin probably as much as I use any application of any kind. I’m starting to use the terminal a lot more, so that may change. I like that it is so easy to move files around in Dolphin.
Use the three little lines near the top right, the hamburger, to see a drop down list of options, select Hidden Files to show your hidden files. Select the three lines again and select configure dolphin.
I always set Configure Dolphin > Startup > Begin in split view mode. This way I have two copies of my file system, so that I can drag and drop files back and forth. Browse around in there and get Dolphin set up the way you like it. You can set Dolphin to open files with a single left click of your mouse or touch pad at System Setttings > Workspace Behavior > General Behavior.
Krusader is a another file manager that I’ve started using that is like a combination of Dolphin and Midnight Commander. It has the Katepart framework with a lot of the Midnight Commander functions. It looks like Dolphin, with a lot more functions.
Ranger
Ranger is a file browser you can use in your Konsole. I haven’t used it all that much yet, because I still haven’t gotten into the habit of using my terminal all the time.
Like I’ve said, KDE makes it hard to learn the command line, because it has such great graphical tools, like Dolphin. I do use my command line quite a bit. Mostly for updating Linux and installing new software. I spend most of my time in my graphical desktop.
Once you get started actually developing your website in your local development environment, you’ll spend more time working with your terminal.
Ranger
Managing Your Files
Investigate your files. Figure out where the configuration files for all your applications are and learn how to edit them to get your Linux OS to work the way you want it to work. Your global config files are in the /etc directory. Typically you require a .d file, put your custom configuration in the .d file and link it to the default configuration file. That way it overrides your default configuration and it will not get clobbered when you update or upgrade the system.
Find your configuration files and learn how to create symlinks to properly link the files to each other. There are soft links and hard links. A soft link is a pointer to a separate file. A hard link is a copy of the file, with the same inode as the file you’re linking to.
ln -s /home/linux/Music /home/linux/Desktop makes a symbolic link from your desktop to your Music directory. You can do pretty much the same thing to link to a particular file. cd into the file where you want the link, such as the desktop in the example above. Create the link in your terminal, just like the example and there will be a link from your desktop to your Music directory or whatever file you want to link to. Don’t forget to remove the link if your remove either one of the files or directories.
Set your git repository up. Git keeps a record of the changes you make to certain files you are working on. Your initial Git Repositories are stored on your computer. You can also set up remote repositories on Github or Bitbucket, etc. There are self hosting options and that may be best for you. I prefer commercial hosting, because it is professionally secured and accessible by your team.
git enables teams of people to work on the same program without interfering with each other. Its called collaboration and there are at least two versions I can think of right now, git and svn.
Apparently, Nextcloud is a free and open source way to synchronize your files on all your devices. I don’t know much about it yet, but its worth taking a look at. Nextcloud is a self hosted git repository. I’ve been using Microsoft OneDrive for years and it works fairly well, especially now that I’m working on this new Windows 10 desktop.
I suspect that setting up free and open source git repositories is really simple, once you figure it out. I like having my files backed up on a commercial server. Commercial servers are way more secure than my own computers and I can access them from any computer.
I recently found out about a couple of new file managers, at least to me. Vifm is the one I use most of the time now. netrw is the file browser built in to Vim. You turn it on by entering the Vim command :Explore. I’ve been using Linux for a long time. I have not been using it for writing code, so I haven’t been using the terminal or vim all that much.
NerdTree is the plugin I’ve been using ever since I started using vim. Its a Vim plugin, which allows you to toggle a list of your files on and off in Vim. I like the way Vifm works, but it is hard to get it set up with the same color scheme as Konsole, Zsh and Vim. Make sure you remember to save your configuration files, so you don’t have to configure your settings every time you install Linux. NvimTree is the Lua replacement for NerdTree in Neovim. Lua is the programming language that Neovim is written in.
I like Vifm because it has the two side by side panels, like Dolphin or Krusader have, but it is kind of difficult to get to match the color scheme of your terminal. It is an obnoxious black and white, until you change it with a configuration file. It took me several hours to do that the first time I used it. Now, I just use Ranger. It doesn’t have the twin panels, but it is automatically the same color scheme as your terminal. So, I use Ranger in Zsh, NerdTree in Vim and NvimTree in Neovim.
I’m sure this is really simple for experienced programmers, but for me it is a complex puzzle that I am struggling to understand. It’s fun. I like complex problems. I love seeking the truth about what ever it is that I’m working on.
Its also just a matter of selecting the configuration you like. There are many options. You won’t be using them all. Get really good at using at least one set of tools. I currently use Krusader as my graphical file manager and Ranger in Zsh and NerdTree in Neovim.
I’ll probably get in the habit of using ranger, as I transition to using the shell more often. NerdTree is a legacy program that I learned to use with Vim. Now that I’m using Kitty and Neovim, I can split the terminal window into multiple panes and have Zsh running in one pane and Neovim in another pane. I can also have multiple windows running in different tabs and even sessions that can be saved and recalled when I restart Kitty. There is a lot of switching back and forth from Zsh to Neovim.
The next thing I’ll do is start pruning my file system. I have many copies of a lot of files, so I’ll spend some time getting them all well organized. Eventually, I’ll finally have all my computers automatically connected to one well organized network file system. Perhaps, I can finally use digiKam to get my thousands of photos organized.
Peace be with you.
Photo by Bob Mccoy using KDE Spectacle screen capture Photo by Bob Mccoy using KDE Spectacle screen capture Photo by Bob Mccoy using KDE Spectacle screen capture