Summary
In this chapter, we presented an overview of the Linux file system. We started with a short introduction on file systems in general, before explaining what is unique about the Linux file system. Ext4, XFS and Btrfs file system implementations were discussed, together with the journaling feature of these file systems. Next, the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard that Linux adheres to was explained in high level, before focussing on the more important parts of the Linux file system in detail. This was done by exploring parts of the tree structure that makes up the Linux file system. We explained that different file systems can be used side-by-side, by mounting them somewhere inside the tree. We ended the chapter by explaining that (almost) everything on Linux is handled as a file, and we discussed the different file types that are used.
The following commands were introduced in this chapter: pwd
, cd
, df
, echo
, type
, cat
, less
. As a tip, the Bash autocomplete feature was explained.