20

Chapter 1. File System Structure

that are not designed to be directly utilized by users or shell scripts. The

libexec

directory contains

small helper programs called by other programs,

sbin

is for system administration binaries (those

that do not belong in

/sbin

),

share

contains files that are not architecture specific,

src

is for source

code, and

X11R6

is for the X Window System (XFree86 on Red Hat Linux).

1.2.1.9. The

/usr/local

Directory

The FHS says:

"The /usr/local hierarchy is for use by the system administrator when installing software locally. It

needs to be safe from being overwritten when the system software is updated. It may be used for programs

and data that are shareable among a group of hosts, but not found in /usr."

The

/usr/local

directory is similar in structure to the

/usr

directory. It has the following subdirec 

tories, which are similar in purpose to those in the

/usr

directory:

/usr/local

|  bin

|  doc

|  etc

|  games

|  include

|  lib

|  libexec

|  sbin

|  share

|  src

1.2.1.10. The

/var

Directory

Since the FHS requires that you be able to mount

/usr

read only, any programs that write log files or

need

spool

or

lock

directories should write them to the

/var

directory. The FHS states

/var

is for:

"...variable data files. This includes spool directories and files, administrative and logging data, and transient

and temporary files."

Below are some of the directories which should be subdirectories of

/var

:

/var

|  account

|  arpwatch

|  cache

|  crash

|  db

|  empty

|  ftp

|  gdm

|  kerberos

|  lib

|  local

|  lock

|  log

|  mail  > spool/mail

|  mailman