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I am setting up a file server using Ubuntu and want to make sure I set up a folder structure that will last. Where should I be placing everything that I am sharing (Music, Pictures, Videos, etc)? In theory, if I was setting this up on Windows, I would create a folder directly under C: and set up the different areas of sharing under that (not that that approach would be best either).

EDIT

Based on constructive criticism, the question is rather ambiguous. My question could be restated to ask "Where shouldn't I set this up? Would /usr be an appropriate place to start? Or would /opt be better?

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    Directory structure and organization is more of a personal thing. Everyone organizes their files according to different patterns. This is a very subjective question.
    – MaQleod
    Mar 7, 2011 at 19:59
  • @MaQleod, I agree, and apologize for the ambiguity. My question would possibly be better asked if stated "Where shouldn't I set this up?" I will update the question.
    – Benny
    Mar 7, 2011 at 20:50
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    Does it really matter? Why not simply /fileshare?
    – Daniel Beck
    Mar 7, 2011 at 20:57

2 Answers 2

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Typically one would use /var or a user's home directory or simply root (/) as the parent of shared directories. /usr and /opt are not good places because those are generally for programs, libraries, and their supporting files. /etc is also not great because that's where configuration files go.

The reasoning behind /var is that by convention it is often used for server data files (e.g. Apache, Syslog, etc.) in some distros. But you could also just create a new directory under root.

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If you refer to the Windows approch, you can create a /home/share for all users on your system. Or create /smb-share (or somethink else), if you plan to share accross network (Samba).

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  • /home/share is a bad idea (every folder under /home/ is typically the home of a user). I also don't like the idea of cluttering / with such things. I'd go with Rob H and say either use /var/ or, if it is an extra partition, mount it under /mnt/.
    – Bobby
    Mar 8, 2011 at 12:20
  • My /smb-share can be on an extra partition.
    – Akarun
    Mar 8, 2011 at 12:35

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