The Linux Structure

In this article we are going to talk about the basic directory structure of Linux. If you are unfamiliar with what a directory structure is, there's no need to worry, we’ll cover that too. If you already know then you can skip right ahead to the actual structure.

A directory is a virtual location in your computer where files are stored. You might be more familiar with the word folder, it is just that, a folder which holds (stores) files. As one can imagine there is nothing stopping us from making folders within folders, rather it is a very sufficient way to arrange files, making it easier for us to find the information we need systematically and efficiently. The structure formed by making multiple folders within folders is called a directory tree or directory structure.

The basic directory structure of Linux is given below:

The Root Folder is the top most directory that contains all other directories, every file and every directory starts from the root directory.

The bin and sbin contail binaries that allow basic OS commands for single user and system administration mode respectively.

The etc folder contains the configuration files of all programs that need and/or create them.

The dev contains files that are needed for the proper functioning of devices including terminal devices, USB etc.

The proc folder manages all the running processes, and contains information associated with them.

The var folder contains variable files i.e the files that are expected to grow and shrink for example print queues, package and database files etc.

The usr folder contains libraries and documentation for second level programs.

Home stores all the user personal data.

Boot contains loader related files while lib contains libraries for binaries located under bin and sbin.

Opt contains optional information for add-on applications.

Media contains files for removable devices for example cd-rom and floppy disks.

While at last srv contains server specific services related data.

These are the main directories that constitute the directory structure of most linux systems, the details of the folders is complicated enough to have a course of their own so they will not be covered in depth here as further details will only serve to confuse new users.

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Sources:

https://www.thegeekstuff.com/2010/09/linux-file-system-structure