file description in linux

* /bin This is where basic shell commands such as ls and mv reside. This directory is always in the executable path.

* /boot This is where the Kernel is stored and LILO gets its information from, and where module information is stored. your best bet is to ignore this directory completly as for a normal user, it is dangerous to play with

* /dev This is where your devices, or hardware is contained. Hardware devices can be accessed like files which is cool when you consider that you can echo a dial command to the modem on /dev/modem, and the modem will respond.

* /etc This is like the preferences folder on a Macintosh. Its a location where all programs create files that store their options. Here you can set up your preferences for an Internet connection, for QuakeII, for your eMail even.

* /home This is where your users have their accounts. If you have added any users other than your standard root account, they will show up here. It can also house the directories than your Web Server (Apache) accesses, if you have it installed.

* /lib This is where the basic libraries for booting Linux and running standard programs reside. Do not delete anything in this directory, ever

* /mnt This is the location where you mount your cdrom, zip drives, or dos drives.

* /opt If you have this directory, its probably where Netscape has installed if you have chosen Netscape to be loaded. Red Hat's Applix office suite also installs here.

* /root This your main account directory. The root user (Ie: you) have this space to keep all your downloads, and anything else you want to keep in there basically

* /sbin Rather like /bin really. The 's' stands for System Binaries, where commands like shutdown, lilo and fdisk are stored.

* /tmp its short for Temporary. When you install Linux first, it creates a file in your /tmp directory with all the details.

* /usr This is an interesting one. When you install programs like the GIMP, and Windowmaker, they need to be accessed by all users, so this is the directory they get installed into. There is even another library directory for the new programs so that all users can see and access them. Basically, any program that is not automatically installed with the Distribution, and needs to be accessed by all users ends up in this directory.

* /var This is where your log files, and printer files are kept. Its again something you shouldnt need to know too much about.