The Linux file system is organized differently from Windows. Rather than starting the directory structure at the volume level (C:, D:, E:, etc.), the entire system is a virtual tree structure organized under / (pronounced "root"). Under the root are a number of top-level directories, including:
- bin—binaries
- boot—system boot files
- dev—a virtual directory of device files (like USB sticks, webcams)
- etc—configuration files
- home—users’ personal directories
- lib—libraries (application code snippets)
- media—where inserted removable media is mounted
- mnt—(legacy) where storage or partitions are manually mounted
- opt—where software you compile often ends up
- proc—a virtual directory that contains information about running processes
- root—home directory of the root superuser
- usr—shared application files
- sbin—applications only the superuser can run
- srv—data for servers
- sys—virtual directory about connected devices
- tmp—temporary files
- var—logs
Linux File System Navigation
Here are some key points to remember when navigating the Linux file system:
- The Linux Bash (command-line interface) has its own commands that are case sensitive and (mostly) different from Microsoft DOS commands. Examples include:
- ls -l—list files in long format (show file type, permissions, owner, group, size, last modified date and time, file name)
- cd /—change directory back to /
- pwd—display the present working directory
- cd ~—change directory to the current user's profile
- Use a forward slash (/) to separate path levels. For example:cd /root/Desktop leafpad /etc/network/interfaces
- Everything, including running processes, is treated as a file.
- Files with spaces in their names are enclosed in quotes.
- Bash uses different colors for different file types. For example:
- White: Document
- Blue: Directory
- Green: Executable or recognized data file
- Sky Blue: Symbolic link file
- Yellow: Device
- Pink: Graphic image file
- Red: Archive file

Note: Your top-level directories may be somewhat different, depending on your Linux distribution.