Unix filesystem: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 18:59, 11 July 2022

Revision as of 13:35, 28 November 2022

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[[File:Standard-unix-filesystem-hierarchy.svg|thumb|An overview of a [[Unix]] filesystem layout]]

In [[Unix]] and [[operating system]]s inspired by it, the [[file system]] is considered a central component of the operating system.<ref name=" Ritchie">{{cite journal |last1= Ritchie |first1= D.M. |author-link1= Dennis Ritchie |last2= Thompson |first2= K. |author-link2= Ken Thompson |title= The UNIX Time-Sharing System |journal= Bell System Tech. J. |volume= 57 |issue= 6 |pages= 1905–1929 |date= July 1978 |doi=10.1002/j.1538-7305.1978.tb02136.x|citeseerx= 10.1.1.112.595 }}</ref> It was also one of the first parts of the system to be designed and implemented by [[Ken Thompson]] in the first experimental version of Unix, [[History of Unix|dated 1969]].<ref name="evolution"/>

As in other operating systems, the filesystem provides information storage and retrieval, and one of several forms of [[interprocess communication]], in that the many small programs that traditionally form a Unix system can store information in files so that other programs can read them, although [[Pipeline (Unix)|pipes]] complemented it in this role starting with the [[Research Unix|Third Edition]]. Also, the filesystem provides access to other resources through so-called ''[[device file]]s'' that are entry points to [[computer terminal|terminals]], [[computer printer|printers]], and [[computer mouse|mice]].