Anyone who has used the Linux operating system has probably been stumped by the odd file folder names used by the software. It’s different from Windows where only a few folder names are mysterious. With Linux, and any Unix-based operating system, every folder name seems cryptic or abbreviated. The folder names are called the file system hierarchy.
Other file system hierarchy differences include:
- Folders are called directories in Unix.
- You mount devices like CD-ROMs in Unix, attach or connect them in Windows.
Here’s a table with the most common Unix directory names and their purpose:
| Folder Name | Description |
|---|---|
| / | This is the top-most level in the Linux operating system. While similar to C:\ in Windows, in Linux drives like D:\ or E:\ appear as directories under the \ directory. In Windows, D:\ and E:\ appear at the same level as the C:\ folder. |
| bin | Critical system programs and utilities are stored in this directory. Software like a Firefox web browser are stored in the /usr/bin directory. bin is shorthand for binary or binaries. |
| boot | This folder holds the files needed to boot (or start up) the operating system. However, the configuration files for booting up are in the /etc directory. |
| dev | Devices such as drives are made available in this directory as files. If you wanted to partition a drive, for example, you would point the partition software to a file in this directory. /dev/null also is a device that discards all input, useful for cron and other software that generates output not needed otherwise. |
| etc | This directory contains all the configuration files for the system. User-specific configuration files are in the /home directory for each user. |
| home | Each user configured in Linux has a directory under the /home directory. For example, Fred Flintstone would have a directory at /home/fred to store his data and configuration-related files. |
| lib | Essential library files for the system binaries in the /bin or /sbin directories are stored here. Individual user-related libraries for /usr/bin are in the /usr/lib directory. |
| lost+found | Any corrupted files from system crashes are stored in this directory. |
| media | When you attach removable media, for example, a CD-ROM or thumb drive, a directory will be created in the /media folder. You can browse the contents of these drives from the /media directory. |
| mnt | This directory is used by system administrators to mount (connect) temporary file systems, for example, to recover files from a drive partition. |
| opt | Proprietary software that does not use the standard Linux file system structure will create directories in the /opt folder to store its files. |
| proc | Linux kernel and process files are stored in the /proc directory. These files include system and process information. |
| root | This is the home directory of the root user. Instead of /home/root, the /root directory is used to store data and configuration-related files for the root user. This also is different from the / (root) directory which holds all Linux directories and files. |
| run | This directory holds temporary application files that cannot be deleted by the Linux system. Temporary files usually are in the /tmp folder where the system can manage and delete files. |
| sbin | Like the /bin directory, this folder contains essential binary files, in this case, binaries run by the root user for system administration tasks. |
| tmp | Temporary files stored in this directory are deleted upon system restart or periodically by software utilities. |
| usr | Applications and files used by individual users are stored in this directory. Binaries are stored in /usr/bin or /usr/sbin directories. Graphic files are stored in the /usr/share directory. Locally compiled applications are stored in the /usr/local directory to keep them apart from other system and user-specific applications. |
| var | The /var directory mirrors the /usr directory. When Linux runs, the /usr directory contents are read-only. Log files and other data that needs to be written is stored in the /var directory, for example, the /var/log directory. |
Learn More
The Filesystem Hierarchy Standard
http://www.pathname.com/fhs/pub/fhs-2.3.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filesystem_Hierarchy_Standard
Linux Directory Structure
http://www.howtogeek.com/117435/htg-explains-the-linux-directory-structure-explained/