Typical Unix Directory Structure Flashcards
Where does the Linux file system begin?
The root directory (“ / “)
What are the sub-directories of the root?
/bin , /etc, /sbin, /usr, /var, /dev, /home, /lib, /mnt, /opt, /proc, /root
What is the root directory (“ / “)?
The root is the logical beginning of the Linux file system and contains the entirety of your operating system.
/bin
contains most of your binary files, typically for the Linux terminal commands and core utilities such as cd, pwd, ls, and so on.
Where is firefox located?
/usr/bin
/boot
The directory where all the files needed to boot the system are kept
What directory do most people like to keep on its own separate partition?
/boot
/dev
The where all of your physical devices are mounted such as your hard disk, USB drive etc.
Where is your system hard drive mounted?
/dev/sda
Where can a USB thumb drive be mounted?
/dev/sde
/etc
The directory where configuration files are stored.
/home
The directory where all of your personal files are located such as The Desktop, Documents, Photos and Videos.
For non-root users
What is the default location that the terminal points to when you open a command-line terminal?
/home/username folder (Unless you have changed the default location)
/lib
The directory where the libraries are kept.
What are libraries?
Libraries are the files needed for your programs to work on Linux.
What makes Linux installation more lightweight than Windows?
Because libraries can be shared between different programs in Linux while in Windows every program has its own library installed even if it already exists in another program.
/media
Another place where external devices such as optical drives and USB drives can be mounted. (varies between distros)
/mnt
A placeholder folder which is used for mounting other folders or drives.
/opt
Optional software for your system that is not already managed by your distro’s package manager.
/proc
The “processes” folder where a lot of system information is represented as files.
/root
Similar to /home but this is specifically for the root user called superuser
/sbin
Similar to /bin but this is for certain commands that can be run only by the root user or superuser
/tmp
The directory where temporary files are stored and are usually deleted on shutdown.
/usr
Contains files and utilites that are shared between users such as users programs, library files, docs, etc.
/var
The directory where variable data is kept, usually system logs but can also include other types of data as well.
