The Unix File System
Using any Unix, Linux, and therefore Mac computer you will notice that they have the same file system structure. It is a time tested design that works very well and it is easy to learn, but I should warn you that you need permission to access most of file system and uneducated changes could be dangerous. Here is what you need to know.
/
That is the root of the directory tree. This is where everything begins,
but there is nothing exciting yet. Inside the root directory are more
directories with clear purposes.
/home
This is the directory where you, the user, would store all your files,
and subdirectories. In most cases this is all you will ever need to
know. But you will still run across the other directories so I will
quickly mention a few and what they are for.
/etc
Pronounced 'et see', this is the directory that contains configuration
files for the system. In here you will find special scripts and
password files that are required for the system.
/bin
This directory contains most of the built in programs. Programs you
will soon be using such as ls, cd, and countless more.
/usr
User specific information, normally application data, is stored inside
the usr directory. Again, this is something most users won't even need
to deal with.
/dev
In this case dev stands for devices. Inside this special directory you
can access your hardware devices in special ways. Unix has a special way
of dealing with devices, and here is where you can access all of them.