The Linux Filesystem
The Linux filesystem structure is somewhat different from that of Windows. Linux doesn’t have a physical drive (such as the C: drive) at the base of the filesystem but uses a logical filesystem instead. At the very top of the filesystem structure is /, which is often referred to as the root of the filesystem, as if it were an upside-down tree. Keep in mind that this is different from the root user. These terms may seem confusing atfirst, but they will become easier to differentiate once you get used to Linux.
The root (/) of the filesystem is at the top of the tree, and the following are the most important subdirectories to know:
/root The home directory of the all-powerful root user
/etc Generally contains the Linux configuration files—files that control when and how programs start up
/home The user’s home directory
/mnt Where other filesystems are attached or mounted to the filesystem
/media Where CDs and USB devices are usually attached or mounted to the filesystem
/bin Where application binaries (the equivalent of executables in Microsoft Windows) reside
/lib Where you’ll find libraries (shared programs that are similar to Windows DLLs)
