OK, I'm a noob...What does an asterisk after a file name mean in Linux?

Question

When I log on, I can browse the directory tree. But many file names have asterisks immediately following their names. What does it mean?

Answer 1

that it's an executable file
just type this..

./ (subbing for the name of said file)
something will/should happen..

Answer 2

My name

Answer 3

While it is possible to use just about any character in a file name (except a slash "/") certain symbols can give a user trouble. The asterisk is a wild card in unix commands so having it in a file name could cause confusion. if two files were named abc and ab* then a command addressed to ab* would affect both of them unless the user quoted the file name (either 'ab*' or ab\*). Unix guides recommend against using special characters in file names. Whoever created the ones you are finding was either not very careful or was trying to something very clever.

Generally, unix type systems do not have special file names for special purposes (unlike windows where extensions are important for identifying the file type.

Answer 4

I think some file managers append a * to represent the file as executable.