2
Chapter 1
Binaries This term refers to files that can be executed, similar to
executables in Windows. Binaries
generally reside in the /usr/bin or
usr/sbin directory and include utilities such as
ps
,
cat
,
ls
, and
ifconfig
(we’ll touch on all of four of these in this chapter) as well as applica-
tions such as the wireless hacking tool aircrack-ng and the intrusion
detection system (IDS) Snort.
Case sensitivity Unlike Windows, the Linux filesystem is case sensi-
tive. This means that
Desktop is different from
desktop, which is different
from
DeskTop. Each of these would represent a
different file or directory
name. Many people coming from a Windows environment can find this
frustrating. If you get the error message “file or directory not found”
and you are sure the file or directory exists, you probably need to check
your case.
