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Explanation of the Unix File System Hierarchy

The structure of a Unix or Linux file system can be quite confusing to newbies. This post touches on the main directories found on a typical Unix or Linux system.

For more in depth information, I recommend the file-hierarchy man page from Arch Linux: https://jlk.fjfi.cvut.cz/arch/manpages/man/file-hierarchy.7.

/ - root

/bin - binaries

/boot - boot loader

/dev - device files

/etc - config files

/home - user’s home directories

/lib - libraries

/media - removable media

/mnt - mounted devices

/opt - optional programs

/proc - process information

/root - root’s home directory

/run - run-time variable data

/sbin - system binaries

/srv - server data

/tmp - temporary files

/usr - user programs

/var - variable files

#linux