Unix filesystem

The filesystem appears as one rooted tree of directories. File types The original Unix file system supported three types of files: ordinary files, directories, and "special files", also termed device files. while System V added FIFO files. BSD also added symbolic links (often termed "symlinks") to the range of file types, which are files that refer to other files, and complement hard links. and differ from hard links in that they may span filesystems and that their existence is independent of the target object. Other Unix systems may support additional types of files. ==Conventional directory layout==

Certain conventions exist for locating some kinds of files, such as programs, system configuration files, and users' home directories. These were first documented in the hier(7) man page since Version 7 Unix; subsequent versions, derivatives and clones typically have a similar man page. The details of the directory layout have varied over time. Although the file system layout is not part of the Single UNIX Specification, several attempts exist to standardize (parts of) it, such as the System V Application Binary Interface, the Intel Binary Compatibility Standard, the Common Operating System Environment, and FreeDesktop's Filesystem Hierarchy Standard (FHS). Here is a generalized overview of common locations of files on a Unix operating system: ==See also==