FHS Introduction
One of the biggest problems I found when I first started using unix, was
finding things. Under dos, each application is placed in a directory of
your choice and stores all its files under that directory. When first
using linux, I found myself struggling just to find the files I
was looking for. It is a part of the learning curve all newcomers must
face.
I look at it this way:
- DOS
- All the files for each application can be found in that applications
directory (except for a few .DLL's, this causes a lot of problems). This
means that you can find files easily, but because the filesystem is
arbitary applications can find it very difficult to find standard files/apps.
- UNIX
- Files for each application are often scattered over a number of
directories, however because these directories are well defined (in a well
administered system anyway), applications can find files/applications easily.
I therefore thought it might be useful if I researched the 'well defined'
directory structure of a standard Linux system.
Those of you who have been using Linux for a while will probably
have heard of the FSSTND. The File System Structure Standard
(what an acronym), details where in a linux filesystem you
should find certain types of files.
The current filesystem standard is the FSSTND 1.2, however it was released
in March 1995. The standard has moved on from there and has undergone a
major face lift.
Soon after the release of 1.2, members of the BSD community joined with the
FSSTND to develop a filesystem standard which suited the wider UNIX-like
community. With this in mind the name was changed to the File Hierarchy
Standard, or FHS.
The FHS is now in its 10th draft, and is now reasonably stable.
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Andrae Muys
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