Re: Filesystem Hierarchy Standard (FHS) and NetBSD

[Dennis Ferguson <dennis.c.ferguson%gmail.com@localhost>]

On 11 May 2011, at 01:00 , John Nemeth wrote:
> On Aug 26, 12:05am, der Mouse wrote:
> }
> } > BSD has had a filesystem layout standard that is perhaps similar in
> } > scope, dating to before Linux.  Our man page says it is from Version
> } > 7 (but I only remember it from the 4.2BSD days).
> } 
> } Current NetBSD's practice - even my idea of current NetBSD's :) -
> } differs significantly from BSD, though.  Looking at 4.0.1's hier(7):
> } 
> } - Numerous directories are new in NetBSD as compared to real BSD.
> }   While I don't have an accurate reference at hand, I would suspect
> }   /libexec, and /var of being new.  I'm quite sure /rescue, /usr/X11R6,
> 
>     Solaris has had /var for some time.  That one seems to be somewhat
> standard.

It should.  While my memory is dim, I think /var was invented for SunOS 2.x,
or whichever version first included NFS, so that they could get per-machine
files into / (they were mostly in /usr/spool before) and run workstations
with a shared /usr mounted read-only.  /usr/share was originally a SunOS
thing as well, I think.

I'm pretty sure /var and the other Sun BSDisms were incorporated back into
BSD distributions new enough to have NFS support, for about the same reason
SunOS did it that way.  The 4.3 Reno hier(7) includes /var and /usr/share, as
well as /usr/libexec and /usr/libdata.

> } - /netbsd, well, the canonical kernel was /vmunix back then, but I
> }   think that one can be waved off. :)
> 
>     /unix for the AT&T world; /vmunix is a BSDism.  Albeit, Solaris
> has /kernel/genunix.

The 2.xBSD distributions for the PDP-11 called it /unix too.  /vmunix was
for the Vax kernels with virtual memory support, I guess to distinguish
it from the 32V /unix kernels, which didn't do virtual memory.

Dennis Ferguson