this post was submitted on 06 Sep 2024
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Linux

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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[–] [email protected] 236 points 1 month ago (33 children)

i always thought /usr stood for "user". Please tell me I'm not the only one

[–] [email protected] 40 points 1 month ago (19 children)

I thought it was United System Resources.
And I still don't know what's the point in separating /bin, /sbin, /usr/bin and /usr/sbin.
Also /mnt and /media
Or why it's /root and not /home/root

[–] [email protected] 47 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Mostly historical reasons, /home was often a network mounted directory, but /root must be local.

And only regular users have their home in /home

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Idk why I feel compelled to add this info, but / doesn't have to be local as long as the necessary kernel modules for mounting it are available in the initrd or built into the kernel.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 month ago

Yes, that is true. I was speaking in the context of very early Unix/Linux before initrd was a thing.

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