Editing Root directory (section)

{{Short description|First or top-most directory in a hierarchy}}
{{Other uses|Root (disambiguation)}}
[[File:OpenIndiana 2015 Console LS.png|thumb|View of the root directory in the [[OpenIndiana]] operating system]]

In a [[Computing|computer]] [[file system]], and primarily used in the [[Unix]] and [[Unix-like]] [[operating system]]s, the '''root directory''' is the first or top-most [[Directory (computing)|directory]] in a hierarchy.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://techterms.com/definition/root_directory|title=Root Directory Definition|website=techterms.com|access-date=2020-03-14|archive-date=2020-10-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026093038/https://techterms.com/definition/root_directory|url-status=live}}</ref>  It can be likened to the trunk of a [[Tree (data structure)|tree]], as the starting point where all branches originate from.  The '''root file system''' is the file system contained on the same [[Disk Partition Recovery|disk partition]] on which the root directory is located; it is the filesystem on top of which all other file systems are [[Mount (computing)|mounted]] as the system boots up.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.linfo.org/root_filesystem.html |title=Root Filesystem Definition by The Linux Information Project |website=LInfo.org |access-date=2020-03-14 |archive-date=2021-07-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210710200056/http://www.linfo.org/root_filesystem.html |url-status=live }}</ref>