Explain the difference between an absolute and a relative pathname, and why one might be used over the other.

What will be an ideal response?

The absolute pathname to a file or directory is the full pathname of a certain file or directory starting from the root directory. A relative pathname is the pathname of a target file or directory relative to your current directory in the tree. Although absolute pathnames are straightforward to use as arguments to commands when specifying the location of a certain file or directory, relative pathnames can save you a great deal of typing and reduce the potential for error if your current directory is far away from the root directory.