MAN.9FRONT.ORG RTFM


     NAMESPACE(4)                                         NAMESPACE(4)

     NAME
          namespace - structure of conventional file name space

     SYNOPSIS
          none

     DESCRIPTION
          After a user's profile has run, the file name space should
          adhere to a number of conventions if the system is to behave
          normally.  This manual page documents those conventions by
          traversing the file hierarchy and describing the points of
          interest.  It also serves as a guide to where things reside
          in the file system proper.  The traversal is far from
          exhaustive.

          First, here is the appearance of the file server as it
          appears before any mounts or bindings.

          /             The root directory.
          /adm          The administration directory for the file
                        server.
          /adm/users    List of users known to the file server; see
                        users(6).
          /adm/keys     Authentication keys for users.
          /adm/netkeys  SecureNet keys for users; see securenet(8).
          /adm/timezone Directory of timezone files; see ctime(2).
          /adm/timezone/EST.EDT
                        Time zone description for Eastern Time.  Other
                        such files are in this directory too.
          /adm/timezone/timezone
                        Time zone description for the local time zone;
                        a copy of one of the other files in this
                        directory.
          /bin
          /dev
          /env
          /fd
          /net
          /proc
          /srv
          /shr
          /tmp          All empty unwritable directories, place hold-
                        ers for mounted services and directories.
          /mnt          A directory containing mount points for appli-
                        cations.
          /n            A directory containing mount points for file
                        trees imported from remote systems.
          /386
          /68000
          /68020

     NAMESPACE(4)                                         NAMESPACE(4)

          /alpha
          /arm
          /mips
          /power
          /sparc        Each CPU architecture supported by Plan 9 has
                        a directory in the root containing
                        architecture-specific files, to be selected
                        according to $objtype or $cputype (see 2c(1)
                        and init(8)). Here we list only those for
                        /386.
          /386/init     The initialization program used during boot-
                        strapping; see init(8).
          /386/bin      Directory containing binaries for the Intel
                        x86 architecture.
          /386/bin/aux
          /386/bin/ip
          etc.          Subdirectories of /386/bin containing auxil-
                        iary tools and collecting related programs.
          /386/lib      Directory of object code libraries as used by
                        8l (see 2l(1)).
          /386/include  Directory of x86-specific C include files.
          /386/9*       The files in /386 beginning with a 9 are bina-
                        ries of the operating system or its bootstrap
                        loader.
          /386/mkfile   Selected by mk(1) when $objtype is 386, this
                        file configures mk to compile for the Intel
                        x86 architecture.
          /rc           Isomorphic to the architecture-dependent
                        directories, this holds executables and
                        libraries for the shell, rc(1).
          /rc/bin       Directory of shell executable files.
          /rc/lib       Directory of shell libraries.
          /rc/lib/rcmain
                        Startup code for rc(1).
          /rc/lib/rcmain.local
                        Site local startup code for rc(1).
          /lib          Collections of data, generally not parts of
                        programs.
          /lib/mammals
          /lib/sky
          etc.          Databases.
          /lib/ndb      The network database used by the networking
                        software; see ndb(6) and ndb(8).
          /lib/namespace
                        The file used by newns (see auth(2)) to estab-
                        lish the default name space; see namespace(6).
          /lib/font/bit Bitmap font files.
          /lib/font/ttf TrueType font files.
          /lib/rfc      Directory of Internet `Requests For Comments',
                        ranging from trivia to specifications.
          /lib/rfc/grabrfc
                        Maintains RFC collection; usually run from

     NAMESPACE(4)                                         NAMESPACE(4)

                        cron (see auth(8)).
          /sys          System software.
          /sys/include  Directory of machine-independent C include
                        files.
          /sys/lib      Pieces of programs not easily held in the var-
                        ious bins.
          /sys/lib/acid Directory of acid(1) load modules.
          /sys/lib/dist Software used to assemble the distribution's
                        installation floppy.
          /sys/lib/troff
                        Directory of troff(1) font tables and macros.
          /sys/lib/yaccpar
                        The yacc(1) parser.
          /sys/man      The manual.
          /sys/doc      Other system documentation.
          /sys/log      Log files created by various system services.
          /sys/src      Top-level directory of system sources.
          /sys/src/cmd  Source to the commands in the bin directories.
          /sys/src/9    Source to the operating system for terminals
                        and CPU servers.
          /sys/src/fs   Source to the operating system for file
                        servers.
          /sys/src/lib* Source to the libraries.
          /usr          A directory containing home directories of
                        users.
          /mail         Directory of electronic mail; see mail(1).
          /mail/box     Directory of users' mail box files.
          /mail/lib     Directory of alias files, etc.
          /acme         Directory of tools for acme(1).
          /cron         Directory of files for cron(8).
          /cfg/system   System-specific files, often addenda to their
                        namesakes, notably cpurc, termrc, namespace,
                        and consoledb.

          The following files and directories are modified in the
          standard name space, as defined by /lib/namespace (see
          namespace(6)).

          /             The root of the name space.  It is a kernel
                        device, root(3), serving a number of local
                        mount points such as /bin and /dev as well as
                        the bootstrap program /boot.  Unioned with /
                        is the root of the main file server.
          /boot         Compiled into the operating system kernel,
                        this file establishes the connection to the
                        main file server and starts init; see boot(8)
                        and init(8).
          /bin          Mounted here is a union directory composed of
                        /$objtype/bin, /rc/bin, $home/bin/$objtype,
                        $home/bin/rc, etc., so /bin is always the
                        directory containing the appropriate executa-
                        bles for the current architecture.

     NAMESPACE(4)                                         NAMESPACE(4)

          /dev          Mounted here is a union directory containing
                        I/O devices such as the console (cons(3)), the
                        interface to the raster display (draw(3)),
                        etc.  The window system, rio(1), prefixes this
                        directory with its own version, overriding
                        many device files with its own, multiplexed
                        simulations of them.
          /env          Mounted here is the environment device,
                        env(3), which holds environment variables such
                        as $cputype.
          /net          Mounted here is a union directory formed of
                        all the network devices available.
          /net/cs       The communications point for the connection
                        server, ndb/cs (see ndb(8)).
          /net/dns      The communications point for the Domain Name
                        Server, ndb/dns (see ndb(8)).
          /net/tcp
          /net/udp      Directories holding the IP protocol devices
                        (see ip(3)).
          /proc         Mounted here is the process device, proc(3),
                        which provides debugging access to active pro-
                        cesses.
          /fd           Mounted here is the dup device, dup(3), which
                        holds pseudonyms for open file descriptors.
          /shr          Mounted here is the global mountpoint device,
                        shr(3), which holds mounted filesystems visi-
                        ble in all namespaces.
          /srv          Mounted here is the service registry, srv(3),
                        which holds connections to file servers.
          /srv/boot     The communication channel to the main file
                        server for the machine.
          /mnt/wsys     Mount point for the window system.
          /mnt/term     Mount point for the terminal's name space as
                        seen by the CPU server after a rcpu(1) com-
                        mand.
          /n/kremvax    A place where machine kremvax's name space may
                        be mounted.
          /tmp          Mounted here is each user's private tmp,
                        $home/tmp.

     SEE ALSO
          intro(1), namespace(6)