this post was submitted on 17 Jun 2026
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Explain Like I'm Five

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When i type in the commands, this is the outcome. It's pointing to some list. But where is this list existing ? I mean, which part of my system ? (retrofed.com)
submitted 3 days ago by LoveEspresso@retrofed.com to c/explainlikeimfive@lemmy.world
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[–] Dave@lemmy.nz 9 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I am not sure I have understood your question, but I will try to answer anyway.

Your console window is in a certain directory. This is like if you open your file browser and go to a certain directory (folder).

You typed "pwd", asking it to print the current working directory (where you are). It told you that you are in your Home folder.

Then you asked it to list out what is in that directory. It gave you a list. Those blue ones ending in / are directories inside your home folder. The white ones are files in your home folder. Is that the list you are referring to?

If you open a file browser and go to your home directory, you would see those files and folders there (assuming the system you are on has a GUI and file browser).

Does that answer your question?

[–] LoveEspresso@retrofed.com 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

So, the blue ones are folders while the white ones are files. Thanks. That's the only list i have.

That means Odin and Projects are two separate folders ?? But my intention was to create one single folder called, "Odin Project".

I am learning, actually.

[–] Legianus@programming.dev 6 points 3 days ago (1 children)

If you use mkdir 'Odin Projects' it will creste one folder/directory, without the '' it will create individual directories for all inputs (e.g. Odin and Projects), which is what I think happened?

[–] LoveEspresso@retrofed.com 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

You're absolutely right. That's the command i had typed precisely.

Now how to merge the two folders into one ??

I am learning the command line actually.

[–] Legianus@programming.dev 4 points 3 days ago (2 children)

If they are empty, I would just delete them with rm -r Odin and do the same for Projects, otherwise you coul d for instance move all content of Projects to Odin with mv Projects/* Odin and then rename Odin with the same command mv Odin 'Odin Projects' and then delete the remaining Projects folder

[–] LoveEspresso@retrofed.com 0 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I removed the two folders using the command that you've taught me, but when i am trying to remove yet another folder, this is what it's showing.

image

[–] LoveEspresso@retrofed.com 0 points 3 days ago (1 children)

What does this mean ??

[–] graycube@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Files have a concept of ownership and have permissions on them. Some permissions can stop you from deleting them. If you own the file you can add a "-f" option to the rm to force it to delete. You can also change the permissions and ownership on files.

[–] LoveEspresso@retrofed.com 0 points 3 days ago

Thanks. That makes two different rm commands.

[–] LoveEspresso@retrofed.com 0 points 3 days ago

Thanks. I apply the rm command, and create a new folder afresh.

Actually, the course that i am doing has got many steps missing.

[–] davitz@lemmy.ca 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Looking at your recent questions, it seems likely that you are following some sort of tutorial that assumes you already understand certain fundamentals that it isn't explaining.

You may benefit from stepping back and trying some more foundational resources first. For example, this one should help you get your bearings on the terminal by covering some of the basic building blocks that other lessons might gloss over. https://ubuntu.com/tutorials/command-line-for-beginners#1-overview

[–] LoveEspresso@retrofed.com 1 points 2 days ago

Thanks for bringing up this link.

[–] MidsizedSedan@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

The internet loves quoting XKCD, but when checking your post history and the comments, it sucks you're getting down voted.

I remember having this exact question when I started learning the command line.

[–] LoveEspresso@retrofed.com 2 points 3 days ago

It's a common question for all beginners l suppose.

[–] ttayh@lemmy.zip 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Pro tip: make your life easier by never having spaces on folders/files names. Use hyphen, period, or underscore instead. Also, never ever use special chars (I've seen your post with the $ problem)

[–] LoveEspresso@retrofed.com 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I had learnt about some commands from YouTube, applied it, and that was the file name that took shape.

[–] ttayh@lemmy.zip 2 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

You would not let some random stranger feed your baby; do not execute commands without first understanding what they do

https://wiki.debian.org/DontBreakDebian

[–] mumblerfish@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

On your disk drive, where you store files, files are organized by the filesystem. The filsystem consists of, among other things, directories and files. Directories can contain contain other directories as well as files.

The pwd command tells you where in the filesystem you are now -- in which directory. The command ls lists the contents of that directory, that is, which other directories and files are in there. The list that ls shows is not a list directly stored somewhere, but generated when you run the command. The command basically asks the filesystem something like "what is the content of the filesystem at this directory", and it gets a reply, then it formats it into a nice list to present to you, the user.

[–] LoveEspresso@retrofed.com 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

That means the terminal is directly interacting with my hardware ??

[–] Legianus@programming.dev 3 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

Well no, the terminal is a software like any other. It just is sometimes more final about doing things (e.g. rm <file> will delete without asking twice) and you cab start other software from it or use within.

There are multiple layers between you and your hardware, rings of userspace (Starting with Ring 3) and at the end Kernel (Ring 0)

[–] LoveEspresso@retrofed.com -1 points 3 days ago

Sound like rings of smoke :)))))

[–] Object@sh.itjust.works 1 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

Looks like it's within WSL on Windows. Open file explorer, and there should be an entry named Linux (or Ubuntu? Not sure) in the section that would usually list your phones and USB sticks plugged into your computer. Click on that, and you should see the root (/) of your Ubuntu filesystem. From there, go to home, then hpdeb. You should find your files there.

Though I'm not quite sure if this question is fit for community like this.

[–] LoveEspresso@retrofed.com -1 points 3 days ago

Thanks for explaining. But i don't need to do it right now.

[–] LoveEspresso@retrofed.com 0 points 3 days ago

I must thank the moderators of the community for creating a platform like this. I helps me to learn and get my doubts cleared. Thanks once again.