Linux - How do I locate....

[d1sc g0lf3r]

I am still new to Linux as I only play around with it every now and then. I want to use Mozilla as my default web browser and I am trying to figure out where the application is installed by default so I can create a link to it from my desktop?

While I am here:
1. Where can I find a good list of linux commands?
2. How do I uninstall a program?

I like playing around with Linux because it is challenging. Sometimes though after I have accomplished a task I still dont feel like I understand what I did.

For Example...I use atl.speakeasy.net to test my connection speed which uses a Java applet. I am assuming by default that Mozilla does not use Java since the applet did not load. So I downloaded Java from Sun's website and followed their instructions for installation and I created a "symbolic link?". I apparently did it right because now the java applet loads but I still do not know what a symbolic link is or does really.

This is what I think it did. I think the link I created told my Mozilla browser where I had installed Java so it could use it? I was told to cd to my /usr/lib/mozilla-1.1/plugins then create a symbolic link here by typing "ln -s /usr/java/j2sdk1.4.2_01/plugin/i386/ns610/libjavaplugin_oji.so libjavaplugin_oji.so
(replace with path to your Java installation)"...what does ln -s mean?

Sorry for so many questions

http://www.techimo.com/forum/t98492.html

basic user commands

[eagle1]

ln -s.

"Not too much to say about links. A link is either a "hard link", which is basically a copy of a file, in another place, except that if either copy is modified, both are affected. Another type is the "symbolic link" which is more a pointer to the real file. When you access the symlink, the real file is accessed, even though it is somewhere else on the system. "

Linking simbolically. It could be compared to the windows shortcuts. Like for example if you have a program installed in:

/usr/bla bla/bla ba/bla ba2/huh/executable

you can link this to another file in your home directory (by doing what you just did to install Java) and you don't have to go through all those folders so you would just go to your home directory and do:

ln -s /usr/bla bla/bla ba/bla ba2/huh/executable executable

[eagle1]

BTW, you can learn what does commands do by looking at the man pages.
From a terminal type:

man ln

and it will explain to you what you can do with it.
The ln command has different options.

[d1sc g0lf3r]

Thanks for the replies. Do either of you know where Mozilla is installed by default in Mandrake 9.0?

[eagle1]

I think the find command should help you.

http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/bsd/2002...SD_Basics.html

http://www.dsl.org/cookbook/cookbook_10.html

Also try with the whereis command or the command which.
(.look at the man pages for info).

[d1sc g0lf3r]

Thanks Eagle1 I used the find command and located it after it spit out a bunch of gibberish saying "...Permission denied". I am assuming it did this because I was not root? or did I do something else wrong? I created my link from the /usr/bin directory.

[rkeener@rob rkeener]$ find / -name mozilla
find: /mnt/floppy: Input/output error
find: /mnt/cdrom: Input/output error
find: /etc/skel/tmp: Permission denied
find: /etc/default: Permission denied
find: /etc/cups/certs: Permission denied
find: /etc/cups/ssl: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/xdm: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/gdm: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/nfs/statd: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/slocate: Permission denied
find: /var/run/sudo: Permission denied
find: /var/spool/cron: Permission denied
find: /var/spool/cups: Permission denied
find: /var/spool/at: Permission denied
find: /var/spool/postfix/active: Permission denied
find: /var/spool/postfix/bounce: Permission denied
find: /var/spool/postfix/corrupt: Permission denied
find: /var/spool/postfix/defer: Permission denied
find: /var/spool/postfix/deferred: Permission denied
find: /var/spool/postfix/flush: Permission denied
find: /var/spool/postfix/incoming: Permission denied
find: /var/spool/postfix/maildrop: Permission denied
find: /var/spool/postfix/private: Permission denied
find: /var/spool/postfix/public: Permission denied
find: /var/spool/postfix/saved: Permission denied
find: /root: Permission denied
find: /proc/1/fd: Permission denied
find: /proc/2/fd: Permission denied
find: /proc/3/fd: Permission denied
find: /proc/4/fd: Permission denied
find: /proc/5/fd: Permission denied
find: /proc/6/fd: Permission denied
find: /proc/7/fd: Permission denied
find: /proc/8/fd: Permission denied
find: /proc/12/fd: Permission denied
find: /proc/97/fd: Permission denied
find: /proc/189/fd: Permission denied
find: /proc/312/fd: Permission denied
find: /proc/633/fd: Permission denied
find: /proc/688/fd: Permission denied
find: /proc/704/fd: Permission denied
find: /proc/712/fd: Permission denied
find: /proc/761/fd: Permission denied
find: /proc/778/fd: Permission denied
find: /proc/917/fd: Permission denied
find: /proc/973/fd: Permission denied
find: /proc/992/fd: Permission denied
find: /proc/1001/fd: Permission denied
find: /proc/1024/fd: Permission denied
find: /proc/1051/fd: Permission denied
find: /proc/1084/fd: Permission denied
find: /proc/1164/fd: Permission denied
find: /proc/1165/fd: Permission denied
find: /proc/1276/fd: Permission denied
find: /proc/1277/fd: Permission denied
find: /proc/1447/fd: Permission denied
find: /proc/1455/fd: Permission denied
find: /proc/1518/fd: Permission denied
find: /proc/1552/fd: Permission denied
find: /proc/1659/fd: Permission denied
find: /proc/1660/fd: Permission denied
find: /proc/1661/fd: Permission denied
find: /proc/1662/fd: Permission denied
find: /proc/1663/fd: Permission denied
find: /proc/1664/fd: Permission denied
find: /proc/1786/fd: Permission denied
find: /proc/8215/fd: Permission denied
find: /proc/8235/fd: Permission denied
/usr/bin/mozilla
/usr/lib/menu/mozilla
find: /.gconfd: Permission denied

[eagle1]

No.. you didn't do anything wrong.
If you are a regular user it will give those messages but other than that, it's cool.
You did fine.

[soulware]

I always give myself sudo access to find so that I don't have to switch to root to search the system. Does Mandrake come with sudo?

[d1sc g0lf3r]

No idea what sudo is, so I cannot say either way