|Contains system-wide configuration files and system databases; the name stands for ''[[et cetera]]''.<ref name="upe">{{cite book |first1=Brian W. |last1=Kernighan |author-link1=Brian Kernighan |first2=Rob |last2=Pike |author-link2=Rob Pike |title=The UNIX Programming Environment |publisher=Prentice-Hall |year=1984 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/unixprogramminge0000kern/page/63 63–65]|title-link=The UNIX Programming Environment |bibcode=1984upe..book.....K }}</ref> but now a better expansion is '''e'''ditable-'''t'''ext-'''c'''onfigurations. Originally also contained "dangerous maintenance utilities" such as <code>init</code>,<ref name="v7"/> but these have typically been moved to <code>/sbin</code> or elsewhere. Needs to be on the root filesystem itself.
