The Linux Filesystem

At first, the Linux filesystem might be a bit scary at first, but it's actually super simple. Let's quickly go over what the Linux filesystem looks like in this document.

Top of the Filesystem

The top of the filesystem includes a lot of different folders. This is how mine looks like:

/boot
/dev
/etc
/home
    /calejvaldez
        /git
/lost+found
/media
/mnt
    /c
        /Users
            /calejvaldez
                /Desktop
                /Documents
                /Downloads
                /Pictures
                /Videos
/opt
/proc
/root
/run
/srv
/sys
/tmp
/usr
/var

This document will only focus on home, mnt, and opt. If you want to learn more about the Linux filesystem, Fireship.io has a great video on the subject.

Symbols

There's two common symbols in the Linux filesystem, especially if you use the command line. One of them is /, which represents the very top of the file system. Another one is ~, which represents your home folder. It is a shorthand way of saying /home/[YOUR_USERNAME]/.

Symbol	Meaning
/	The root directory, top of the filesystem
~	Your home folder, shorthand way of saying /home/[YOUR_USERNAME]

So, if I run cd ~, I'm really saying cd /home/calejvaldez/.

home

home in the Fireship video.

One of the folders at the very top of the filesystem is the home folder. It contains your files, as well as other users' files. If you go into this folder, you will find other folders named after your Linux username.

/home
    /calejvaldez
        /git
    /another-user
    /yet-another-user

If you cd into /home/calejvaldez/ (or ~, since they both mean the same thing), you will see your personal files. For the majority of us, we will only have the git folder in here.

tip

WSL users:

When you first WSL using the Debian icon, it'll display your username and the folder you're in. For example, in my case, it's calejvaldez(~). This indicates your in your personal home folder.

mnt

The mnt folder just stands for "mount". Usually, other connections such as a USB connection (or, for WSL users, the Windows filesystem) will appear here.

This is how it looks like for me on WSL:

/mnt
    /c
        /Users
            /calejvaldez
                /Desktop
                /Documents
                /Downloads
                /Pictures
                /Videos

In the mnt folder, there's the c folder, which indicates the Windows C: drive. Inside of the c folder, there's the Users folder. Then there's the usernames of the people with an account on your computer. Go to yours, and you will find your personal Windows files.

tip

WSL users:

If you used the linux-setup.sh script, you have a custom command called cdrive, which automatically runs cd /mnt/c/Users/[WINDOWS_USERNAME]/ so that you have quick access to your files.

How to use:

calejvaldez(~) > cdrive
calejvaldez(/mnt/c/Users/calejvaldez) > ls
 Desktop
 Documents
 Downloads
 Pictures
 Videos
 # ... tons of other folders!

opt

opt in the Fireship video.

opt stands for "optional", which is where some, not all, apps are installed. For the Ojos Project, we're going to install an Iris app here.

On my old Linux system, I used to have 1Password and Signal installed. It would look like this:

/opt
    /1Password
        ... loads of files!
    /Signal
        ... loads of files!

If you're using WSL, this folder will likely be empty.

Conclusion

There's obviously way more folders in the / folder, but these three are the main focus for the project. We won't really interact with the other folders.