Linux Directory Structure

Directory Tree:

/ Root
|----root The home directory for the root user
|----home Contains the user's home directories
|      |----ftp Users include many services as listed here
|      |----httpd
|      |----samba
|      |----user1
|      |----user2
|----bin Commands needed during bootup that might be needed by normal users
|----sbin Like bin but commands are not intended for normal users. Command run by LINUX.
|----proc This filesystem is not on a disk. Exists in thekernels imagination(virtual). This directory
|      | holds information about kernel parameters and system configuration.
|      |----1 A derectory with info about process number 1. Each process has a directory below proc.
|
|----usr Contains all commands, libraries, man pages, games and static files for normal operation.
|       |---bin Almost all user commands, some commands are in /bin or /user/local/bin.
|       |---sbin System admin commands not needed on the root filesystem. e.g., most server programs.
| |---include Header files for the C programming language. Should be below /user/lib for consistency.
| |---lib Unchanging data files for programs and subsystems.
| |---local The place for locally installed software and other files.
| |---man Manual pages.
| |---info Info documents.
| |---doc Documentation for various packages
| |---tmp
| |---X11R6 The X windows system files. There is a directory similar to usr below this directory
| |---X386
|
|----boot Files used by the bootstrap loader, LILO. Kernel images are often kept here.
|----lib Shared libraries needed by the programs on the toot filesystem
| |---modules Loadable kernel modules, especially those needed to boot the system after disastersl
|
|----dev Device files for devices such as disk drives, serial ports, etc.
|----etc Configuration files specific to the machine.
| |---skel When a home directory is created it is initialized with files from this directory.
| |---sysconfig Files that configure the linux system for networking, keyboard, time, and more.
|
|----var Contains files that change for mail, news, printers log files, man pages, temp files
| |---file
| |---lib Files that change while the system is running normally
| |---local Variable data for programs installed in /usr/local
| |---lock Lock files, Used by a program to indicate it is using a particular device or file.
| |---log Log files from programs such as login and syslog which logs all logins, logouts,
| | and other system messages.
| |---run Files that contain information about the system that is valid until the system is next booted
| |---spool Directoties for mail, printer spools, news and other spooled work
| |---tmp Temporary files that are large or need to exist for longer than they  should in /tmp
| |---catman A cache for man pages that are formatted on demand
|
|----mnt Mount points for temporary mounts by the system administrator
|----tmp Temporary files. Programs running after bootup should use /var/tmp
|----media

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Linux系统各个目录的一般作用

/
This is the root directory. The mothership. The home field. The one and only top directory for your whole computer. Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING starts here. When you type '/home' what you're really saying is "start at / and then go to the home directory."

/
这就是根目录。对你的电脑来说，有且只有一个根目录。所有的东西，我是说所有的东西都是从这里开始。举个例子：当你在终端里输入“/home”，你其实是在告诉电脑，先从/（根目录）开始，再进入到home目录。

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/root
This is where the root user lives. The root user is the god of your system. Root can do anything, up to and including removing your entire filesystem. So be careful using root.

/root
这是系统管理员（root user）的目录。对于系统来说，系统管理员就好比是上帝，它能对系统做任何事情，甚至包括删除你的文件。因此，请小心使用root帐号。

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/bin
Here's where your standard linux utilities(read programs) live -- things like "ls" and "vi" and "more". Generally this directory is included in your path. What this means is that if you type 'ls', /bin is one of the places your shell will look to see if 'ls' means anything.

/bin
这里存放了标准的（或者说是缺省的）linux的工具，比如像“ls”、“vi”还有“more”等等。通常来说，这个目录已经包含在你的“path”系统变量里面了。什么意思呢？就是：当你在终端里输入ls，系统就会去/bin目录下面查找是不是有ls这个程序。

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/etc
Here's where the administrative and system configuration stuff lives. For instance, if you have samba installed, and you want to modify the samba configuration files, you'd find them in /etc/samba.

/etc
这里主要存放了系统配置方面的文件。举个例子：你安装了samba这个套件，当你想要修改samba配置文件的时候，你会发现它们（配置文件）就在/etc/samba目录下。

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/dev
Here's where files that control peripherals live. Talking to a printer? Your computer is doing it from here. Same goes for disk drives, usb devices, and other such stuff.

/dev
这里主要存放与设备（包括外设）有关的文件（unix和linux系统均把设备当成文件）。想连线打印机吗？系统就是从这个目录开始工作的。另外还有一些包括磁盘驱动、USB驱动等都放在这个目录。

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/home
Here's where your data is stored. Config files specific to users, your Desktop folder(whick makes your desktop what it is), and any data related to your user. Each user will have their own /home/username folder, with the exception of the root user.

/home
这里主要存放你的个人数据。具体每个用户的设置文件，用户的桌面文件夹，还有用户的数据都放在这里。每个用户都有自己的用户目录，位置为：/home/用户名。当然，root用户除外。

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/tmp
This is the Temporary folder. Think of it as a scratch directory for your Linux system. Files that won't be needed by programs once their used once or twice are put here. Many Linux systems are set to automatically wipe the /tmp folder at certain intervals, so don't put things you want to keep here.

/tmp
这是临时目录。对于某些程序来说，有些文件被用了一次两次之后，就不会再被用到，像这样的文件就放在这里。有些linux系统会定期自动对这个目录进行清理，因此，千万不要把重要的数据放在这里。

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/usr
Here's where you'll find extra utilities that don't fit under /bin or /etc. Things like games, printer utilities, and whatnot. /usr is divided into sections like /usr/bin for programs, /usr/share for shared data like sound files or icons, /usr/lib for libraries whick cannot be directly run but are essential for running other programs.Your package manager takes care of the things in /usr for you.

/usr
在这个目录下，你可以找到那些不适合放在/bin或/etc目录下的额外的工具。比如像游戏阿，一些打印工具拉等等。/usr目录包含了许多子目录：/usr/bin目录用于存放程序；/usr/share用于存放一些共享的数据，比如音乐文件或者图标等等；/usr/lib目录用于存放那些不能直接运行的，但却是许多程序运行所必需的一些函数库文件。你的软件包管理器（应该是“新立得”吧）会自动帮你管理好/usr目录的。

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/opt
Here's where optional stuff is put. Trying out the latest Firefox beta? Install it to /opt where you can delete it without affecting other settings. Programs in here usually live inside a single folder whick contains all of their data, libraries, etc.

/opt
这里主要存放那些可选的程序。你想尝试最新的firefox测试版吗？那就装到/opt目录下吧，这样，当你尝试完，想删掉firefox的时候，你就可以直接删除它，而不影响系统其他任何设置。安装到/opt目录下的程序，它所有的数据、库文件等等都是放在同个目录下面。

举个例子：刚才装的测试版firefox，就可以装到/opt/firefox_beta目录下，/opt/firefox_beta目录下面就包含了运行firefox所需要的所有文件、库、数据等等。要删除firefox的时候，你只需删除/opt/firefox_beta目录即可，非常简单。

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/usr/local
This is where most manually installed(ie. outside of your package manager)softwaregoes. It has the same structure as /usr. It is a good idea to leave /usr to your package manager and put any custom s and things into /usr/local, since nothing important normally lives in /usr/local.

/usr/local
这里主要存放那些手动安装的软件，即不是通过“新立得”或apt-get安装的软件。它和/usr目录具有相类似的目录结构。让软件包管理器来管理/usr目录，而把自定义的脚本（s）放到/usr/local目录下面，我想这应该是个不错的主意。

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/media
Some distros use this folder to mount things like usb disks, cd or dvd drives and other filesystems.

/media
有些linux的发行版使用这个目录来挂载那些usb接口的移动硬盘（包括U盘）、CD/DVD驱动器等等。