Linux® Desk Reference, Second Edition

Introduction

A directory is a special kind of file that is used to arrange other files into groups. For example, in writing this book, I have created a directory Linux into which I'm placing the files associated with each chapter:

Directories are arranged under the root directory, “/”, in a structure called the directory hierarchy, or directory tree (see Figure 5-1 for a diagram of a simple directory tree).

Figure 5-1. Sample Directory Tree

The internal construction of directories is similar to that of files in most ways. Directories have owners and groups associated with them. They have permissions associated with their owner, group, and the rest ...