Novell LINUX ENTERPRISE DESKTOP 10 SP2 - DEPLOYMENT GUIDE 08-05-2008 Deployment Manual page 371

15.1.2 Linux Directory Structure
Because the shell does not offer a graphical overview of directories and files like the
tree view in a file manager, it is useful to have some basic knowlegde of the default
directory structure in a Linux system. You can think of directories as electronic folders
in which files, programs, and subdirectories are stored. The top level directory in the
hierarchy is the root directory, referred to as //. This is the place from which all other
directories can be accessed.
Figure 15.4 shows the standard directory tree in Linux, with the home directories of
the example users yxz, linux, and tux. The /home directory contains the directories
in which the individual users can store their personal files.
NOTE: Home Directory in a Network Environment
If you are working in a network environment, your home directory may not be
called /home. It can be mapped to any directory in the file system.
The following list provides a brief description of the standard directories in Linux.
Figure 15.4 Excerpt from a Standard Directory Tree
bin boot dev
etc home
vmlinuz
hda st0
sda
yxz linux
bin Mail test.c
xdm
/
lib mnt opt
media
kde gnome
ld.so
tux X11R6 bin
f2c
bin lib man bin lib
xterm xv bin lib
srv sys
proc root sbin
etc lib local sbin share
ftp man doc man
pub
faq howto packages
tmp usr var
Working with the Shell 355