Is Ubuntu Case Sensitive?

When installing new software through Ubuntu, you may encounter errors like “Unable to locate package”. This issue arises mostly due to the incorrect letter case of the command.

This article will cover every aspect of the case sensitivity in Ubuntu, so stay tuned and read it through to the end. The following aspects are enlightened in this post:

Let’s get started!

What are Case Sensitivity and Case Insensitivity?

Before getting into the details that “Is Ubuntu Case Sensitive?”, let’s explore what the case sensitive/insensitive means. For that, a comparison table is provided below:

Case-sensitiveCase-Insensitive
Discrimination of upper- and lower-case letters of any language.No discrimination in the case of letters.
Provides accurate search results.Provides everything related to the search.
Better support for programmers.Average and confusing for programmers.
More secure password combinations and hard to crack.Less secure password combinations and is easy to crack.

Let’s dig into the benefits that case sensitivity gives while using Ubuntu.

What are the Benefits of Case Sensitivity in Ubuntu?

If “is Ubuntu case sensitive” is the question that brings you here, then the answer is YES. Ubuntu is case-sensitive in all its glory because more of it is written in C language. The following list of benefits that a case-sensitive Ubuntu will give:

More Secure Passwords

The passwords that use a similar combination of cases are often easy to crack, but if you use the mix/match of the upper/lower case letters, it will be much more complex. For example, a 12-digit password with all lowercase letters would take around three weeks until cracked. When the same password is included with an upper-case letter, it will take up to 300+ years to crack it.

Better Naming of Files

Is somebody annoyed by the naming system on Microsoft Windows? Well, Ubuntu gives you absolute command over your system because you can get rid of those annoying numbers in your folders included in Windows if a file of the same name exists.

Best for Programmers

Most programming languages are case-sensitive, and Ubuntu being one, makes it easier for them to create files or folders with different codes in the same category for better management. Hence, making Ubuntu suitable for programmers.

Why is Case Sensitivity Important?

If you are a programmer, then you’d know the importance of case sensitivity to remember the objects that are often created with a similar name to the constructor. So, imagine the disaster of having two of them with the same name. Yes, that would cause havoc and become a complete failure.

Although case-insensitivity would mean more ease but more exposure to errors and faults, which isn’t what you need.

For example, two files, the names “NewTestFile.txt” and “newtestfile.txt,” will be considered different files on Ubuntu or any other Linux distro, but on Windows, they are identical, and you will be asked to rename one.

Is There a Way to Ignore the Case Sensitivity in Ubuntu?

No, there is no possibility of doing so because it is written in c-language, which is case-sensitive, but you can do that while on Microsoft Windows by following this guide.

That’s all from this guide!

Conclusion

Ubuntu’s being case-sensitive has its perks, which could be confusing initially, but once the user gets used to it, they will find good in it. A solid platform is provided for different users, especially programmers and developers, by making Canonical (The parent company of Ubuntu) case-sensitive. Following the guide, it is concluded that “Ubuntu is Case-Sensitive”.