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- Jawshie, on 12/24/2007, -1/+23Great article but you need to mention that those seem to be for a specific distribution and not for a generalized Linux. Not all distributions use /media or /lost+found for example.
- Dochtuir, on 12/24/2007, -1/+21Or, just run "man hier"
- alanhaggai, on 12/24/2007, -3/+23This is my first article (with some reference to books). I wish to add more such tutorials, and intros in my website. Your comments are welcome. So are your ideas of how the website can be improved.
- mjPayne, on 12/24/2007, -0/+10lost+found is from ext2/3 Other filesystems (like reiserfs or XFS) won't create that folder by default.
- mjPayne, on 12/24/2007, -1/+10"hackers don't bother" ? You need to get out from under that rock.
- probrian, on 12/24/2007, -0/+8because you only have 43 left this year
/joke - gerrylazlo, on 12/24/2007, -5/+12I like to consider myself an intelligent person, and, even after some experience with Linux as an OS, I still find the structure way too freaking complicated or esoteric.
- mjPayne, on 12/24/2007, -0/+7How about when Microsoft tells you that you cannot view the movie you made on your home computer (Windows) on your laptop (Linux). I sure do give a damn. Open source may be unimportant to regular (non programmers) guys but open standards are important to everybody.
- MajorHertz, on 12/24/2007, -1/+8.bin files are executable. You should run it to install and it will place the files automatically.
- pendrachken, on 12/24/2007, -1/+8in your home directory.... it is just an installer.
also you should just use apt-get or synaptic to install from ubuntus repository. unless there is some specific reason why you need a newer version. - gamelord12, on 12/24/2007, -1/+7I'm getting an Ubuntu laptop very soon, and this is one of the things about Linux that really confuses me. Thanks!
- mjPayne, on 12/24/2007, -1/+6The installer should take care of that. That .bin file is actually a shell script to install the binary files.
- riah, on 12/24/2007, -0/+5Because it has a different file structure?
- riah, on 12/24/2007, -1/+6I can't tell if you were serious.
- mjPayne, on 12/24/2007, -0/+4True. Just let it sit on the network without a firewall.
- ventralnet, on 12/24/2007, -1/+5I always get confused,when i download a new program where to place it on my ubuntu install.....
For example lets say i download the most recent jdk in its .bin format... Where should i end up putting that?? - roberri, on 12/24/2007, -3/+7Uncanny!
I'm new to Unix and I was just thinking I should learn more about the file-system..
Thanks for that. You've just saved me a Google! ^_^ - mjPayne, on 12/24/2007, -0/+4Ah yeah, the old /opt place. I haven't seen much use of /opt lately. I guess Oracle and "friends" still have /opt hardcoded in the installer but I see no need for /opt. Runlevel S (that "safe mode" for windows guys) binaries should go to /bin, super binaries should go to /sbin, user stuff should go to /usr/bin and /usr/sbin and local things should go to /usr/local. Did I forgot anything ?
- kennu, on 12/24/2007, -0/+4I think the writer is missing the point that certain filesystem branches exist separately because they can be unavailable depending on the system state, and possibly shared between multiple systems. E.g. /usr is read-only and contains stuff that is not crucial for booting up the system, because it may be network-mounted. And /var might fill up with logs so it's separated from the root, filling only that separated partition. When you understand all these reasons, the whole directory structure actually makes sense...
- Jawshie, on 12/24/2007, -0/+4Heres a video adapted from a LinuxReality podcast about the file hierarchy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=460IxkYmZxQ - rivviepop, on 12/24/2007, -0/+4As mentioned above this is all part of the FHS, an official spec that can be found here:
http://www.pathname.com/fhs/
I hope your blog facts match up and you're not poisoning the well with your own interpretations and that you've given credit if any information was taken from the official Filesystem Hierarchy Standard. - thomashauk, on 12/24/2007, -0/+4Compiled on your computer.
- qwuinc, on 12/24/2007, -0/+4You should also pass along links to the actual standards: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filesystem_Hierarchy_ ...
:-) - lord2800, on 12/24/2007, -0/+4Actually, no. lost+found is a directory created under certain file systems to deal with inodes not attached to a file that are marked as having data in them. ReiserFS, for example, has no need for it so it doesn't create it.
- neko, on 12/24/2007, -0/+3One of the major benefits of structuring things this way is that logfiles, temp files, and home directories are completely separate from libraries, executables, and static shared files.
This is what makes Linux LiveCDs and tiny embedded systems a possibility. /tmp and /var and /home can be held in RAM, any stuff that shouldn't need to change gets put on a compressed read-only filesystem.
And since your package manager can handle all this, normal users won't need to worry too much about it.
Or are we going to have an argument about how C: makes perfect sense for the first hard drive, stuff in Program Files and the start menu should be organised by company name first, and how even Grandma understands the difference between C:\Documents and Settings\user\Application Data\ and C:\Documents and Settings\user\Local Settings\Application Data\ - ncdave101, on 12/24/2007, -0/+3lost+found directories aren't so much a Linux "standard" as they are a Unix "standard". They existed as far back as the earliest System V file system implementations (if not the first implementation). And as lord2800 said, they only exists on inode-based file systems.
- RyeBrye, on 12/24/2007, -4/+7what? no /opt ? :(
- umbrae, on 12/24/2007, -1/+4I think you would have been better served to made it even easier for a newbie to follow.
Starting off with something like "Where are my documents stored?" "Where are system settings stored?", etc. I realize that it's tricky to answer some questions of these types because they can vary based on install, but I think that the list of directories could still be intimidating to a new linux user who doesn't know what "LILO and GRUB boot managers" even means.
Overall though, I think it's very good. I just think you might have wanted to start off a little easier, and then gotten into a per-directory description. - martian, on 12/24/2007, -0/+3Your descriptions are not very descriptive. For example: "/usr/local - Contains local files. It has a similar directories as /usr contains." Okay... what is a "local file"?
- sirhomer, on 12/24/2007, -0/+3It's a good directory for putting software which wasn't installed by the package manager. That's largely the purpose of the /opt directory in Ubuntu and Debian.
- Jawshie, on 12/24/2007, -3/+6I never as a *desktop* user have to deal with the file system. All programs are handled through the package manager and all config files through their respective GUIs (remember, desktop user...). The only thing I worry about is my /home/jawshie directory.
- canthraxp, on 12/24/2007, -0/+3If they don't give a damn how the file strucutre is, then they won't click on the link. Simple.
- KloroFormd, on 12/24/2007, -1/+4The directory structure wasn't designed for an average user. It's designed to require as little typing as possible when using the command line, hence the short 3-character names throughout much of the structure.
- KnightCrawler, on 12/24/2007, -2/+5Sounds like a disaster...
- tuzziel, on 12/24/2007, -1/+3Why on earth somebody decided to split program dependent files into zillion of directories all over the system? Why not put kernel files simply into "/kernel" and everything kernel related stays there. Even in flaved Windows, every program has its own directory where to place files. So the program in encapsulated there and not wide spreaded over entire system. Ok, there is some shared system folders too, but 90%-100% programs use own directory for most of the stuff. I think this philosophy of putting all the files in one place and under one designated directory is much better.
- probrian, on 12/24/2007, -0/+2you never know maybe one day you need to research some *****...
then wham!
"you have run out of Google searches for the year" - Krechet, on 12/24/2007, -0/+2Dude, the links you provided are great, but you are not being nice. Start being nice or people will throw rotten eggs at you.
- thomashauk, on 12/24/2007, -0/+2I dump unziped programs in there.
- fr34k5h0w, on 12/24/2007, -0/+2I'm a n00b at Linux, but I think it's because it uses shared libraries with other programs. That way the package manager only has to update one library file and all programs will use the latest with minimal work on the OS's part. But maybe someone else knows a better reason.
- mjPayne, on 12/24/2007, -0/+2That's harsh. Let's help guys, not piss them off.
Here, simple: /bin - boot binaries (like "System32"), /usr - user related binaries (like "Windows"), /tmp - temporary files, /home - user stuff (like "Documents and Settings"),/var -system logs and other files, /proc and /sys system pseudo files (you don't need to touch any of the stuff there). - vade79, on 12/24/2007, -0/+2Minus the descriptions, yeah...informative to new users i would imagine. This seems like something that would have been useful to me back in the day when first using *nix... "etc"=config files? doesn't really make sense off the bat.
- xv1ncentx, on 12/24/2007, -0/+2What you think about this:
http://docs.google.com/View?id=dff6bkv5_12fwctx9&p ...
Is a Filesystem Hierarchy based on GoboLinux point of view, but different.
I'M ALL EARS. - NeptuneZen, on 12/24/2007, -1/+3http://www.gobolinux.org/
Not every distro is equal ;) - DustyinBFE, on 12/24/2007, -1/+3It's because of people like yourself that I nearly did go back to Windows. It's because of people like you that Linux won't take off, because people who don't know how to run something so different ask questions on forums, and get smart ass remarks from people like you. Here's an idea, how about you stay away from anything with the keywords: New user & Linux.
- inactive, on 12/24/2007, -1/+3Suprised Ubuntu hasn't picked up on Gobolinux's file system, as I wouldn't expect OpenSUSE or Fedora to do so as they are downstream to Enterprise distros. This seems like the kind of thing that would solve a lot of aches for Windows transition.
- pyrates, on 12/24/2007, -0/+2If there was one thing that Apple did right was that they tamed the directory structure that unix/linux/bsd uses by creating symbolic links to make it all make more sense. The directory structure of linux needs an overhall and apple's method is a good way to follow.
- NeptuneZen, on 12/24/2007, -2/+4I can't believe all this talk about the linux file structure and not one mention of gobo linux. From the gobo main page: "GoboLinux is an alternative Linux distribution which redefines the entire filesystem hierarchy.
In GoboLinux you don't need a package manager because the filesystem is the package manager: each program resides in its own directory, such as /Programs/Xorg/7.1/ and /Programs/KDE-Libs/3.5.3. Like it?"
One of the big things that I have always disliked for unix, is the file directory. It seems like it is not designed with the user in mind. Gobo changes that. - SimonGray, on 12/25/2007, -0/+2Pwnage
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