<p>In order to provide you with a working knowledge of the Linux filesystem, the following topics will be introduced in this section.</p><ol type="1"><li><p>The Linux Root Filesystem</p></li><li><p>Permissions</p></li><li><p>Alternative Filesystems</p></li></ol><div class="SECT2"><h2 class="SECT2"><a name="AEN2664">Overview</a></h2><p>The filesystem is made up of <i class="EMPHASIS">files</i> and <i class="EMPHASIS">folders</i> or directories. The top level folder is called the <i class="EMPHASIS">root</i> folder and contains all of the files that are pertinent to your system. Each file within this system is allotted a name and a path on the basis of where it lies in relation to the root folder. Thus a sample file -<tt class="FILENAME">alephlinux.txt</tt>- may be found at <tt class="FILENAME">/home/letters/alephlinux.txt</tt> where the forward slash <span class="QUOTE">&quot;/&quot;</span> before <i class="EMPHASIS">home</i> denotes root. </p>