Here are some common Linux mounts: / (Called root)- this is equivalent to C:\ in the DOS/Windows world. You cannot run a Linux system without the root partition. All other partitions are a subset of the root partition. swap Unless you have massive amounts of memory, you are going to need some swap space. In Windows, you have Win386.swp; here, it's a separate drive partition. /boot- This contains the necessary stuff to start the machine, including the base kernel. This partition is optional, but usually present. You will not need to mess around in here if you have a running system. /usr- This is the directory where global executables are stored. It can be read-only, if you want. Generally speaking, most software is installed here by default. /dev- This is the directory where all of your devices are. There are a few useful examples for you to know. /dev/hda is the first ide hard drive. /dev/hdb is the second. /dev/sda would be the first SCSI drive, and /dev/sg0 is your robotic arm. /etc- This is where most configuration files are stored. You will spend a lot of time in here if you are an administrator. Most files require "root" access to change. /var- Many of the system log files are here, as well as spools (mail, printer...) /bin- This directory is the home of binary executables. These include the common commands we have already learned like ls, cat, gzip and tar. Back to Menu

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