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Development Tools Console Foundations Getting Started with the Console Moving Around the Filesystem

Where is "Home"?

I'm still having trouble conceptualizing where exactly the Home directory is. Is it a directory you would be able to see in Windows Explorer?

3 Answers

on Unix/Linux, open a terminal and type

echo $HOME

Windows, open a command-prompt and type

echo %USERPROFILE%

after that, it will display the home directory.

I see, thanks!

When I enter echo %USERPROFILE% into my Windows command shell, I get C:\Users\Christine Chang. I assume "Christine Chang" is the home (root) directory.

I'm just still trying to understand where that is relative to the directories I'm familiar with (Computer, Documents/Music/Pictures, Desktop...). Would Desktop or Libraries be the next directory down from Home?

Oh I see, well...

In windows, everything starts from the harddrive, so depending how your computer is set up, it is usually:

C:\

that's the absolute beginning root directory

Brandon Semilla
Brandon Semilla
4,858 Points

The directory represented by the $HOME variable is the root directory of the terminal you are accessing (usually relative to the current user).

Note that the Unix-like computer you use in the course is in no way related to your Windows machine.

Have fun!