Tagged Questions

4
votes
2answers
229 views

What are the advantages of the Unix file system structure

If I install an application in Linux for example Debian/Gnu Linux, the files of the applications are copied to many different directories in the file system. Some scripts goes into /usr/share .. ...
3
votes
3answers
182 views

Why do I get 3048 MB from a 64 MB flash memory?

I have a Linux based STB (set-top-box) and it features a 64 MB flash memory and 256 MB of RAM. I wanted to take a backup of some of my settings before I flash it with another image, but I wasn't sure ...
3
votes
1answer
195 views

How does the Linux file structure work?

I see the different folders bin, dev, mnt, proc, srv, sys, etc. What are the properties of all these different folders? What are there purposes? Are there files in some of them that I should not ...
1
vote
1answer
87 views

Linking “..” do somewhere other than parent directory and other strange fs beharviors

Can the entry ".." become linked to someplace other than the parent directory? Is it possible to cause "tar" to create this weird behavior? Scenario: I have a pre-built compiler to a embeded system, ...
4
votes
3answers
219 views

Directories with binary files in Linux

I noticed that when I install new application there are a few possible directories where the resulting binary file will be placed. You can install with packaging manager, compile with make, ...
130
votes
3answers
21k views

What is the purpose of the lost+found folder in Linux and Unix?

There is a folder at the root of Linux and Unix operating systems called /lost+found/ What is it for? Under what circumstances would I interact with it? How would I interact with it?
1
vote
1answer
72 views

What do I install into a given install prefix

Which directories should I expect to have in an install prefix when I'm writing makefiles? I've noticed that in the common prefix /usr, there is no /etc, yet there is an /include dir, which isn't in ...
-2
votes
1answer
377 views

“Clean” Filesystem Hierarchy

The Linux filesystem hierarchy is full of unused folders that only exist for historical reasons. Do any distros install with only the directories that are actually used?
20
votes
2answers
2k views

what is this new filesystem /run?

I just ran df -h a minute ago and noticed a filesystem has been added that I'm not familliar with. Does anyone know why /run exists? is this something that's been added by the kernel? by Arch Linux? ...
0
votes
2answers
100 views

where on the filesystem do user-generated system scripts go?

I have a couple command line php scripts and also php pages that call the same class file. Instead of having mutiple copies of it floating around, I want to put class.myApi.php in one central location ...
38
votes
2answers
1k views

Why does '/' have an '..' entry?

This just baffles me. Why does the root directory contain a reference to a parent directory? bob@bob:/$ ls -a . build home lib32 mnt .rpmdb sys vmlinuz .. cdrom ...