Practice for the LPI Linux Essentials exam with 13 exam-style practice questions, instant answer reveals, and concise explanations of every correct answer. Topics include: Which command-line tool will create a filename that ends in .gz?. Follow @CertPunch and visit certpunch.com for more certification practice exams and study content.
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What you will practice
- Which command-line tool will create a filename that ends in .gz?
- You are in a directory that contains several hidden files. Which command should you use to display hidden fil…
- What is defined by a Free Software license?
- What command would a user enter to delete a directory containing no other files or directories within it?
- What must the user do to run a program that is not within a directory located in the PATH variable?
- Which command line can be used to search help files that mention the word 'copy'?
Answers and explanations
Tap a question to expand the answer and the exam reasoning. Try to commit to your own pick first.
Q1. Which command-line tool will create a filename that ends in .gz?
Answer: D. gzip
The gzip command compresses files and appends the dot g z extension to the resulting archive. Note that bzip two and x z create dot b z two and dot x z files respectively.
Q2. You are in a directory that contains several hidden files. Which command should you use to display hidden files in the current directory?
Answer: A. ls -a
Using the l s dash a flag lists all files, including hidden configuration files that start with a dot. Standard l s only displays non hidden files, ignoring essential dot files.
Q3. What is defined by a Free Software license?
Answer: D. The conditions for modifying and distributing the licensed software
A Free Software license defines how users can legally modify and distribute the software. Remember that true free software focuses on user liberties rather than restricting the context of its execution.
Q4. What command would a user enter to delete a directory containing no other files or directories within it?
Answer: B. rmdir
The rmdir command is specifically used to remove empty directories from the file system. If you need to delete a directory that contains files or other directories, you must use rm with the recursive flag.
Q5. What must the user do to run a program that is not within a directory located in the PATH variable?
Answer: D. include the file path to the program
If an executable is not in a directory listed in your PATH variable, you must provide its explicit file path to run it. A common shortcut for this is using dot slash to execute a script in your current directory.
Q6. Which command line can be used to search help files that mention the word 'copy'?
Answer: C. man -k copy
The dash k option for the man command acts exactly like the apropos command. It searches short manual page descriptions for keywords and displays any matches.
Q7. Which of the following information can be displayed by top?
Answer: A. Running processes, ordered by CPU or RAM consumption
The top command displays running system processes and their resource usage, like CPU and RAM. For the exam, remember that top provides a real time dynamic view of your system, whereas other tools only display user or hardware summaries.
Q8. Which of the following options is used with tar to create a new .tar archive file?
Answer: A. -c
The dash c option tells tar to create a new archive file. For the exam, pair dash c with dash f to specify the output filename, such as tar dash c f archive dot tar.
Q9. Which of the following programs on a Linux system could you use instead of Windows Media Player?
Answer: A. VLC
VLC is a highly popular cross-platform media player that runs on Linux. For the exam, remember that Linux relies on open-source applications for multimedia tasks, unlike proprietary options limited to their native operating systems.
Q10. What is the main difference between Linux and Windows or macOS?
Answer: B. Linux is open source software while the other two are closed source operating systems
Linux is an open-source operating system, whereas Windows and macOS are proprietary, closed-source systems. While cost and installation methods vary, the underlying licensing and source code availability remain the key distinctions.
Q11. What is the practice of offering people the right to freely distribute copies and modified versions of a work with the stipulation that the same rights be preserved in derivative works created later called?
Answer: A. Copyleft
Copyleft is the practice of allowing free distribution and modification while requiring the same rights for derivative works. Copyright is the default legal framework, but copyleft uses it to enforce open sharing.
Q12. Which of the following is NOT a heightened value proposition of Open Source Software compared to proprietary software?
Answer: B. Popularity
While open-source software can be highly popular, popularity itself is not an inherent value proposition. The key benefits tested are transparency, interoperability, security, and the ability to localize the software for specific needs.
Q13. When using a web browser, what should a user do to prevent private data from being stored locally?
Answer: B. Browsers can be configured to use a private mode that does not store any data locally
Most modern browsers feature a private browsing mode that prevents history and local data from being saved. You do not need to delete profiles or seek special secure versions to achieve this basic privacy function.
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