Editing Linux Basics Tutorial (section)

== The Filesystem ==

The way files are stored in Linux is somewhat different from how it works in Windows. The idea of files and directories is the same, but at the top level, there are some major differences. In Windows, the top-level file structure is a drive, like the C drive. In Linux, the physical drives don't actually hold the top-level position in the filesystem. Instead, there's a single root directory, called "/", that is the top-level directory for the filesystem. Below that are all the directories that make up your system.

One of the most important directories is "/home/". This directory contains the home directory for each user on the system. For example, "/home/my_user/" is the home directory for my_user. This directory is that user's main location for documents and other user-specific data. In bash, the symbol "~" evaluates to the home directory of the current user. For example, if you are logged in as my_user, and execute <code>$ cd ~</code>, your working directory will change to "/home/my_user/".

The following are some useful directories on your system to know about:

* '''/bin/''': Contains executables, or '''bin'''aries, for software that's used by all users on the machine.

* '''/tmp/''': A useful place to put '''t'''e'''mp'''orary files that you're currently working with. This directory is emptied every time you reboot your computer, so be careful to not put anything important in there!

* '''/etc/''': Contains configuration/options files for software on the machine.

* '''/usr/''': Often contains data that software needs in order to run.