After typing ifconfig in my terminal, I get the Ipadress: 192.168.etc. (I don't think it is smart to post my whole IP-number).

I have just studied subnetworking and I can't figure out why I have a private IP-adress and a mask of 255.255.255.0. It a class-c network!

So, two questions:
1. Why do I have a private IP-adress
2. Why do I have as subnetmask 255.255.255.0

This is a question for those who have real knowledge about networking.
Thanks beforehand.