One of the defining features of Linux and other UNIX-like operating systems is that “everything is a file.” This is an oversimplification, but understanding what it means will help you understand how Linux works.

Many things on Linux appear in your file system, but they aren’t actually files. They’re special files that represent hardware devices, system information, and other things — including a random number generator.

These special files may be located in pseudo or virtual file systems such as /dev, which contains special files that represent devices, and /proc, which contains special files that represent system and process information.

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We’ve seen this Ubuntu installer for Windows before, but now it has new features and a new name: Wubi Beta. It uses no confusing lingo, and even lets you choose a variety of options that similar applications don’t offer:

• Choose the drive to install Ubuntu (should have at least 10GB available)
• Choose how much room to reserve for Ubuntu (minimum is 4GB while 8GB is recommended)
• Chose whether to install Ubuntu (GNOME), Kubuntu (KDE), Xubuntu (XFCE), or UbuntuStudio (for multimedia workstations).
• Choose your language
• Pick your username and password

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