The Filesystem Hierarchy Standard says where to put stuff in a UNIX distribution.Is the FHS used/designed for use outside of GNU/Linux, or is it mostly limited to GNU/Linux?
Is the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard a UNIX standard or a GNU/Linux standard?
history;fhs
According to the Wikipedia page the standard is for Unix and Unix-like operating systems. While it may have grown out of a predominantly GNU/Linux environment, the intention seems to have consistently positioned it as focused on the broader *nix world.The first version, originally bearing the catchy name, FSSTND, was published in 1994. The accompanying FAQ describes how it originated:The FSSTND is a consensus effort of many Linux activists; the mainarm of their discussion takes place on the FSSTND mailing list...The FSSTND draws ideas from POSIX, 4.4BSD, SVR4, SunOS 4, MCC,Slackware, SLS, (in no particular order) and many other systems.  Wehave not followed any one operating system layout in entirety.Instead we have tried to take the best of each filesystem layout andcombine them into a homogenous whole, well suited to the needs ofLinux users everywhere.1The Linux Foundation is currently working on the next version, FHS 3.0, and clearly indicated they see it as applying to the wider Unix ecosystem:The Filesystem Hierarchy Standard (FHS) is a reference describing the conventions used for the layout of a UNIX system. It has been made popular by its use in Linux distributions, but it is used by other UNIX variants as well.2As to whether in practice the FHS is widely adopted: it is, but inconsistently. 1. http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/Linux/docs/fsstnd/old/fsstnd-1.0/FSSTND-FAQ2. http://www.linuxfoundation.org/collaborate/workgroups/lsb/fhs