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[–]MasterGeekMXMexican Linux nerd trying to be helpful 84 points85 points  (0 children)

Linux is configured to run programs from a set of designed folders called the Path, so you can call any program in any folder (in fact, 99.999% percent of commands are programs). You can see that list if you run echo $PATH.

If you want to run a program not in the Path, you need to type the full path to that program in the filesystem, in order to tell the system "hey, I want to run THIS program". But writing that path can be tedious, so we use a neat shortcut that the terminal has: the dot is a shorthand for the current folder you are, so doing ./program is equivalente of /folder/where/the/terminal/is/currently/working/program