Let’s move into the / (root) direcory:#
iamyaash@fedora:/$ ll
total 20
dr-xr-xr-x. 1 root root 0 Jul 17 2024 afs
lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root 7 Jul 17 2024 bin -> usr/bin
dr-xr-xr-x. 6 root root 4096 Mar 26 02:33 boot
drwxr-xr-x. 21 root root 4400 Mar 30 14:23 dev
drwxr-xr-x. 1 root root 4870 Mar 28 21:04 etc
drwxr-xr-x. 1 root root 16 Feb 23 23:19 home
lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root 7 Jul 17 2024 lib -> usr/lib
lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root 9 Jul 17 2024 lib64 -> usr/lib64
drwx------. 1 root root 0 Oct 24 20:17 lost+found
drwxr-xr-x. 1 root root 0 Jul 17 2024 media
drwxr-xr-x. 1 root root 0 Jul 17 2024 mnt
drwxr-xr-x. 1 root root 48 Feb 23 18:34 opt
dr-xr-xr-x. 576 root root 0 Mar 30 2025 proc
dr-xr-x---. 1 root root 168 Mar 19 13:11 root
drwxr-xr-x. 58 root root 1500 Mar 30 17:30 run
lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root 8 Jul 17 2024 sbin -> usr/sbin
drwxr-xr-x. 1 root root 0 Jul 17 2024 srv
dr-xr-xr-x. 13 root root 0 Mar 30 14:22 sys
drwxrwxrwt. 28 root root 720 Mar 30 19:43 tmp
drwxr-xr-x. 1 root root 168 Oct 24 20:19 usr
drwxr-xr-x. 1 root root 200 Oct 24 20:27 var
| Directory | Description |
|---|
/bin | Contains essential binaries (e.g., ls, pwd, cat, vim) that can be accessed by all users. These are required for system operation. |
/sbin | Stores system binaries (e.g., mount, adduser, deluser) that can only be executed by root or with sudo. |
/lib | Contains shared libraries required by /bin and /sbin. Often a symbolic link to /usr/lib. |
/usr | Holds user-related programs and utilities. |
/usr/bin | Contains non-essential binaries for user applications (e.g., nano, vim, gcc, dnf). |
/usr/local/bin | Stores user-installed binaries to avoid conflicts with system package manager installations. |
$PATH | Environment variable that defines directories where executables are searched when running commands. |
/etc | Stores system-wide configuration files (e.g., /etc/resolv.conf, /etc/hostname). Most are editable text files ending in .conf. |
/home | Contains personal files, settings, and user-specific directories (/home/username). |
/boot | Contains files required for booting the system, including the Linux kernel. |
/dev | Provides access to hardware devices as if they were files (e.g., /dev/sda, /dev/null). |
/opt | Stores optional or third-party software packages that are not part of the default system. |
/var | Contains variable data such as logs (/var/log), spool files, and caches. |
/tmp | Stores temporary files that are deleted on reboot. |
/proc | Virtual directory containing real-time system information, such as /proc/cpuinfo (CPU details) and /proc/meminfo (memory usage). |