At the top level ..

Typically "read only"
bin - binaries - executable programs
sbin - system admin binaries - programs for the system / admin
lib - library files (needed by binaries and shared between them)
usr - the bulk of the operating system (the bit that is not needed to boot)

Typically "read write" by admin or system
dev - device files (how devices are handled)
etc - config files, startup files, etc
proc - "everything is a file" in 'nix - these are the current processes
var - read/write area for OS utilities / daemons

Open Season!
home - User's home directories and typically data areas
mnt - Mounts of discs from other computers (also media)
tmp - scratch area for anyone / everyone

In /usr - this is where parts that are NOT needed at boot up time are kept
bin - binaries - executable programs
sbin - system admin binaries - programs for the system / admin
lib - library files (needed by binaries and shared between them)
include - "Programmer's header files"
share - things common between architectures
etc - config files, startup files, etc
src - source
man - manual
local - local enhancements to OS - i.e. extra software you load (also /opt)

In /usr/local - this is where your own local additions are kept
bin - binaries - executable programs
sbin - system admin binaries - programs for the system / admin
lib - library files (needed by binaries and shared between them)
include - "Programmer's header files"
share - things common between architectures
etc - config files, startup files, etc
and others which are complete apps

In /usr/local/apache2 (for example) - this is within a particular open source product
bin - binaries - executable programs
lib - library files (needed by binaries and shared between them)
logs - log files
man - unix man pages
modules - extra code modules (similar to lib)
conf - configuration stuff
in this case ... web site at htdocs, icons, cgi-bin, manual etc

Ever wondered why the executables are mixed /bin, /sbin, /usr/bin, /usr/sbin, /usr/local/bin, /usr/local/apache2/bin, /usr/local/java/bin and so on ... perhaps the table above helps explain it a bit!
(written 2007-11-20)

 A162 - Web Application Deployment - Backups and File System Management
  [2299] How much space does my directory take - Linux - (2009-07-20)
  [1893] Some Linux and Unix tips - (2008-11-18)
  [1801] Will your backups work if you have to restore them? - (2008-09-18)
  [1765] Dialects of English and Unix - (2008-08-21)
  [1648] The tourists guide to Linux - (2008-05-20)
  [1288] Linux run states, shell special commands, and directory structures - (2007-08-03)
  [1023] Finding public writeable things on your linux file system - (2007-01-06)
  [1013] Copy multiple files - confusing error message from cp - (2006-12-30)
  [754] tar, jar, war, ear, sar files - (2006-06-10)
  [735] Boys will be boys, saved by Ubuntu - (2006-05-27)
  [703] Copying files and preserving ownership - (2006-04-28)
  [593] Finding where the disc space has gone - (2006-02-06)
  [554] What backup is adequate? - (2006-01-04)
  [334] Symbolic links and hard links - (2005-06-02)
  [153] Linux - where to put swap space - (2004-12-16)

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