Distinguish absolute, relative, home, and system paths when navigating and running basic file commands.
The move: Anchor your working directory before acting on files. Every command that names a file carries a location assumption. logs/app.log means something different in a project root, a deploy directory, and your home folder. /var/log/app.log means the same absolute location wherever you stand. ~/Downloads/report.pdf starts from your home directory. . and .. are compact, but they are also easy to misread under pressure. The Filesystem Hierarchy Standard gives Unix-like systems a shared vocabulary. It does not guarantee every machine is identical, but it tells you what directories are generally for: /etc for host configuration, /var for variable state, /tmp…
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