Directory hierarchy

Compared to Windows

Paths in Linux are different from Windows:

  • There are no drive letters in Unix systems. Instead everything is in a directory under /
  • The separator between directories is / instead of \

To illustrate the differences:

  • A typical directory in Windows is C:\Users\Jarkko\some_directory
  • A typical directory in Linux is /home/jarkko/some_directory

Directories

Directory Contents
/ Root directory, the very top of the tree. All other directories are beneath/inside it.
/bin and /usr/bin Binaries (programs). /bin is traditionally for the most important binaries that are needed during boot-up and for basic usage (such as ls, cp and mv).
/sbin and /usr/sbin System binaries. Programs that are not for normal users.
/boot For the Linux kernel and boot loader.
/dev It is a concept in Unix systems to expose devices (hardware in the computer) as files. Software can open these files to communicate with the hardware (via device drivers in the kernel).
/etc System-wide configuration files.
/home Holds the home directories of all users. This is where each users can put their own files.
/root The home directory of the root user (also called superuser or admin).
/lib and /usr/lib Shared libraries. The kernel modules are in /lib/modules.
/lost+found Recovered files from a disk check. There is a directory with this name for every partition.
/mnt and /media Place for temporary mount points. The /media directory was a later invention as place to temporarily mount removable media such as CD-ROMs.
/proc Kernel and process files. Like /dev these are not real files, but a way to interact with the kernel. Reading them gives information about the system and processes. Some can be written to give instructions to the kernel.
/run More recent invention. Run-time variable / transient data. It is information about the running system since it last booted.
/srv More recent invention. For data served by e.g. web and FTP servers.
/sys Information about devices, drivers and some kernel features.
/tmp Temporary files. There are also temporary files in /var/tmp. The difference is that the files in /var/tmp must be preserved between reboots.
/usr This is where the vast majority of data (such as binaries, libraries and documentation) is placed. This data is not essential during booting.
/usr/local Sometimes used to place everything that does not belong to the distribution.
/var Contains files that change frequently. Most useful for users is /var/log with log files. Other things include spools (for printing and mail) and lock files (created to indicate that a program has started).