Linux Directory Structure

" / " is the root Directory in Linux. " /root " will be the home directory for the root user (administrator). root will have the full administrative power over the system and other users. There are other directories like / home, /bin, /sbin, /lib etc. Each user will have there own home directory.

List of all the Directories in Linux

/                      ---------> Root or the main directory
|---root           ---------> Home directory for the root user
|---home         ---------> User's home directories
|    |----ftp      ---------> Users services are listed here
|    |----httpd
|    |----samba
|    |----user1
|    |----user2
|---bin            ---------> Commands needed during bootup and also needed by normal users
|---sbin          ---------> Like bin but commands are not intended for normal users.
|---proc        ---------> This filesystem is not on a disk. virtual directory.
|    |
|    |----n       ---------> A directory with info about process number n.
|
|---usr          ---------> Contains all commands, libraries, man pages etc for normal operation.
|    |
|    |----bin       --------->   Almost all user commands.
|    |----sbin     --------->   System admin commands not needed in the root filesystem.
|    |
|    |----include      ---------> Header files for the C programming language.
|    |
|    |----lib             --------->   Unchanging data files for programs and subsystems
|    |----local          --------->   Locally installed software and other files.
|    |----man          -------->   Help pages
|    |----info            --------->    Info documents
|    |----doc            ---------> Documentation for various packages
|    |----tmp
|    |----X11R6      ---------> The X windows system files.
|    |
|    |----X386           --------->     Like X11R6 but for X11 release 5
|---boot         ---------> Files used by the bootstrap loader, LILO. Kernel images stored.
|---lib           --------->    Shared libraries needed by the programs on the root filesystem
|    |----modules    --------->    Loadable kernel modules.
|
|---dev         --------->     Device files for devices such as disk drives, serial ports, etc.
|---etc        ---------> Configuration files specific to the machine.
|    |----skel     --------->    For home directory creation.
|    |----sysconfig    --------->   Files that configure the linux system for networking etc.
|---var     ---------> Contains files that change for mail, news, temp files, etc
|    |----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.
|    |----log       ---------> Log files from programs such as login and syslog etc.
|    |
|    |----run      ---------> Files that contain information about the system.
|    |
|    |----spool   --------->   Directories for mail, printer spools, news and other spooled work.
|    |----tmp      --------->   Temporary files that are needed to exist for longer time.
|    |
|---mnt    ---------> Mount points for temporary mounts by the system administrator.
|---tmp    ---------> Temporary files. Programs running after bootup should use /var/tmp.