Linux directory structure: Difference between revisions
From Pengwings
Created page with "{| class="wikitable" |- ! Directory ! Symlinked to ! Modifiable ! Purpose ! Rough Windows equivalent (ish) |- |colspan="4" style="background-color:#444;"| Special directories for the kernel |- | /dev | | | Contains file-like objects which allow I/O access for hardware devices on the system | |- | /proc | | | Contains file-like objects relating to running processes | |- | /sys | | | Virtual file system that can be accessed to set or obtain information about the kernel..." |
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This page might help you to understand the layout of the Linux file system a bit better | |||
{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
|- | |- | ||
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! Rough Windows equivalent (ish) | ! Rough Windows equivalent (ish) | ||
|- | |- | ||
|colspan=" | |colspan="5" style="background-color:#444;"| Folders managed by the distribution (in /usr) | ||
|- | |- | ||
| /bin | | /bin | ||
| Line 87: | Line 41: | ||
| C:\Program Files\<br/>C:\Windows\ | | C:\Program Files\<br/>C:\Windows\ | ||
|- | |- | ||
|colspan=" | |colspan="5" style="background-color:#444;"| Folders managed by the administrator | ||
|- | |- | ||
| /etc | | /etc | ||
| Line 144: | Line 84: | ||
| Variable data files not specific to a particular user (e.g. log files) | | Variable data files not specific to a particular user (e.g. log files) | ||
| C:\ProgramData\ | | C:\ProgramData\ | ||
|- | |||
|colspan="5" style="background-color:#444;"| User-level directories | |||
|- | |||
| /home | |||
| | |||
| yes | |||
| User folders for the standard user | |||
| C:\Users\ | |||
|- | |||
| /root | |||
| | |||
| yes | |||
| User folder for the root user | |||
| | |||
|- | |||
|colspan="5" style="background-color:#444;"| Temp folders | |||
|- | |||
| /run | |||
| | |||
| | |||
| Used by system packages to store small amounts of runtime data, essentially a system package temp folder, only writable by root | |||
| C:\Windows\TEMP\ | |||
|- | |||
| /tmp | |||
| | |||
| yes | |||
| Temp folder where normal people have r/w access | |||
| AppData\Local\Temp\ | |||
|- | |||
|colspan="5" style="background-color:#444;"| Special directories | |||
|- | |||
| /boot | |||
| | |||
| | |||
| Files relating to the bootloader and booting the system | |||
| | |||
|- | |||
| /dev | |||
| | |||
| | |||
| Contains file-like objects which allow I/O access for hardware devices on the system | |||
| | |||
|- | |||
| /proc | |||
| | |||
| | |||
| Contains file-like objects relating to running processes | |||
| | |||
|- | |||
| /sys | |||
| | |||
| | |||
| Virtual file system that can be accessed to set or obtain information about the kernel's view of the system | |||
| | |||
|- | |||
|colspan="5" style="background-color:#444;"| Other directories | |||
|- | |||
| /rpms | |||
| | |||
| | |||
| Unknown - seems empty/unused and there isn't any r/w access to this folder | |||
| | |||
|- | |||
| /sysroot | |||
| | |||
| | |||
| Folder containing files relating specifically to atomic desktop | |||
| | |||
|} | |} | ||
Revision as of 13:59, 9 February 2026
This page might help you to understand the layout of the Linux file system a bit better
| Directory | Symlinked to | Modifiable | Purpose | Rough Windows equivalent (ish) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Folders managed by the distribution (in /usr) | ||||
| /bin | /usr/bin | Programs on PATH bundled with the distro that you can use as a normal user | ||
| /lib | /usr/lib | 32-bit system libraries | ||
| /lib64 | /usr/lib64 | 64-bit system libraries | ||
| /sbin | /usr/sbin | Programs on PATH bundled with the distro that need superuser | ||
| /usr | Files which are part of the distro, usually installed and managed by the package manager | C:\Program Files\ C:\Windows\ | ||
| Folders managed by the administrator | ||||
| /etc | 3-way merge | System-wide configuration files, installing packages sometimes puts files here | Registry | |
| /media | /run/media | Temporary automatic mounts for external storage, such as removable USB drives | Drive letters in My Computer | |
| /mnt | yes | Temporary or permanent mounts for any purpose (e.g. secondary hard drives, remote network shares) | Drive letters in My Computer | |
| /opt | yes | Third-party software which isn't installed via the package manager and doesn't follow package structure | C:\Program Files\ | |
| /srv | yes | Contains server data files Probably not useful unless you're running server programs |
||
| /usr/local | yes | Third-party file directory with a layout that looks like the normal structure of /usr Contains subfolders like bin, lib, lib64, sbin which behave like the distro counterparts including being on PATH |
C:\Program Files\ | |
| /var | yes | Variable data files not specific to a particular user (e.g. log files) | C:\ProgramData\ | |
| User-level directories | ||||
| /home | yes | User folders for the standard user | C:\Users\ | |
| /root | yes | User folder for the root user | ||
| Temp folders | ||||
| /run | Used by system packages to store small amounts of runtime data, essentially a system package temp folder, only writable by root | C:\Windows\TEMP\ | ||
| /tmp | yes | Temp folder where normal people have r/w access | AppData\Local\Temp\ | |
| Special directories | ||||
| /boot | Files relating to the bootloader and booting the system | |||
| /dev | Contains file-like objects which allow I/O access for hardware devices on the system | |||
| /proc | Contains file-like objects relating to running processes | |||
| /sys | Virtual file system that can be accessed to set or obtain information about the kernel's view of the system | |||
| Other directories | ||||
| /rpms | Unknown - seems empty/unused and there isn't any r/w access to this folder | |||
| /sysroot | Folder containing files relating specifically to atomic desktop | |||