[07:30] <tardrace> quick question - why will some terminal commands not work unless i put "./" in front of the command?
[07:32] <tsimpson> tardrace: depends on the command, or more specifically, where it is
[07:33] <tsimpson> if you just type the "command", then the shell looks in the directories listed in $PATH for it, but you can put the path yourself
[07:33] <tardrace> well before i grabbed xchat (for its gui) i downloaded BitchX - I installed it to opt/bitchx - when i went to run the command BitchX if i simply typed that it wouldn't work. I had to type ./BitchX and then it booted
[07:34] <tsimpson> there are two kinds of path, absolute and relative. absolute paths start with a /, like /bin/ls, relative ones don't. in that case ./ mean "in the current directory"
[07:34] <tardrace> ok understood
[07:36] <tardrace> I still don't understand one thing tho: when I navigate to /opt/bitchx (the directory where the program BitchX is) I can't simply type 'BitchX' to launch the program. Why is that?
[07:37] <tardrace> (i am trying to launch it via the command terminal)
[07:37] <tsimpson> because it doesn't look in the current directory, only in $PATH, that's why you have to give it a path
[07:38] <tsimpson> "./BitchX" is a relative path, where as just "BitchX" is not
[07:39] <tsimpson> unless there's a '/', it's not seen as a path by the shell, that's why "./" works
[07:40] <tardrace> ok now I understand better
[11:52] <duanedesign> hello penreturns
[12:00] <duanedesign> brb