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Linux has a differing filesystem to that of windows. The ext3 filesystem extends ext2 and is the default filesystem for Fedora Linux at time of writing.

The various parts of the ext3 Linux filesystem are outline below.

/

The Root Directory is the top level in a Linux system not to be confused with the /root directory.

/boot

Includes the Linux kernel (the central part of the operating system) and all the necessary files required to boot the system

/dev

Contains device files relating to devices attached to the system and those that can be attached to the system.

/bin

Contains executable binary files often executed from the command line (e.g. ls and mv).

/sbin

Contains commands used by the operating system.

/etc

Contains system-specific configuration files.

/home

Contains the home directories for each of the users on the system. The home directory for jon would therefore be /home/jon.

/root

The home directory of the root user.

/lib

Contains libraries that are accessed by different system applications as well as the kernel.

/tmp

Provides a storage area for temporary files

/usr

Contains user commands and binaries etc...

/var

Contains variable data files such as log files.

/media and /mnt

These directories act as mount points for mounted filesystems. The CD-ROM Drive will be mounted at /media/cdrom for example. A mount point enables all the data on an external device or filesystem to be used by the main Linux filesystem.