Unix directory structure

In computer science, and particularly in Unix-like operating systems, the Unix directory structure is a convention of organization.

• / -- "root"; This is where the entire system is contained. Unlike Microsoft Windows, where each drive has its own root directory named by a letter, such as C:/ or F:/, Unix holds the entire system in this single top-level directory, including each device and document. Thus, it is commonly said that in Unix, "everything is a file".

• /bin -- Stands for "binaries"; Contains some fundamental utilities needed by a system administrator. As a failsafe, these were placed in a separate directory so that they could be placed on a separate disk or disk partition in case the main drive failed.

• /etc -- Contains configuration and some system databases.
• /dev -- short for devices. Contains file representations of every peripheral device attached to the system.
• /home -- contains the home directories for the users. On some Unices, this is under /usr/home
• /include
• /lib
• /root -- the home directory for the superuser root.
• /tmp -- a place for temporary files. Many Unices clear this directory upon start up.
• /usr
  • /usr/bin
  • /usr/include
  • /usr/lib
• /var -- short for "variable." A place for files that may change often, such as the storage to a database, or the contents of a database.