Regarding the RAM disk and associated issues...

[krose at theory.lcs.mit.edu (Kyle Rose)]

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> Thanks for following up.  You've filled in a lot of blanks:  funny how
> DOS is so ingrained that I didn't realize someone might have done it
> right the first time.

I'm not quite sure I understand this last statement.  ext2 is
definitely a superior file system to FAT; my point was that FAT is
faster under Linux than it is under Windows/DOS, not that FAT under
Linux is faster than ext2 under Linux.  After re-reading my message, I
noticed that I hadn't made that clear.

I also forgot to mention that FAT only supports 8.3 filenames, though
VFAT kludges long filenames by putting entries like Micros~1 in the
actual file system and adding a map file indicating the associated
long filenames.

> 1.  How do I measure the size of a partiton?  Of a directory?

Mount the filesystem first, then type "df /usr", where "/usr" is
replaced by some directory on that filesystem.  Note that "df ." will
always give you the size of the partition on which the current
directory is located.

You can measure the _usage_ of a directory tree by the du command;
"man du" for more information.  I believe du adds up all the space
used in blocks owned by files in a particular directory tree, and does 
not simply add up the sizes of all the files; but I could be wrong on
that point.

> 3.  Why does ls -d (in RH 5.2) give only the current "." directory, and
> not the other (sub)directory entries in a particular directory?

ls -d does not traverse directory entries.  Typically, when you "ls
<filename>", the file entry (like lilo.conf or .bashrc or vmlinuz) is
shown; _except_ for directories.  When <filename> is a directory, the
entries _in_ that directory are shown.  You can think of the -d option
as normalizing this behaviour by forcing the file entry itself to be
shown, whether or not it is a directory.

Therefore, since "ls" is short for "ls .", "ls -d" shows the directory 
entry for ".".

Kyle


- -- 
Kyle R. Rose                      "They can try to bind our arms,
Laboratory for Computer Science    But they cannot chain our minds
MIT NE43-309, 617-253-5883             or hearts..."
http://web.mit.edu/krr/www/                           Stratovarius
krose at theory.lcs.mit.edu                              Forever Free
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