Overview: The File System

In Linux, files and directories are organized as a tree. The root directory is /.

There are no drives as in Windows. Hard disk partitions, CD-ROMs, or USB storage devices are mounted to directories and are parts of the directory tree.

The path separator on Linux is /.

Some directories are described in the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard (FHS).

/bin/   → Various programs (binaries) which are important for users and administrators.
/dev/   → Contains files (interfaces) for hardware access (e.g. /dev/cdrom, /dev/fd0, /dev/sda1).
/etc/   → (Local) configuration files.
/home/ → Below are the personal user directories. Typically one directory per user.
/lib/   → Libraries required by programs.
/tmp/   → In this directory, temporary files are stored. (Cleaned regularly.)
/opt/   → Contains optional packages.
/proc/ → Is a virtual directory, containing diverse status messages from system or processes.
/sbin/ → Important system programs (requiring root permissions!) which are necessary for system start.
/root/ → Administrator directory.
/var/   → Changeable data, for example spool or lock.
/boot/ → Contains files belonging to the kernel and the boot manager.
/usr/   → This directory is special. It contains serveral directories again.

The command tree displays structured output of directories and files to the console. Attention: This command is not always installed by default.

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