<tr><td><spanclass="path">/boot/system/</span></td><td></td><td>Contains system files and applications/packages shared by all users.</td></tr>
<tr><td><spanclass="path">/boot/home/</span></td><td></td><td>This is your personal folder where you keep your data and settings and the applications/packages that are <i>not</i> shared by all users.</td></tr>
<p>As long as Haiku isn't multi-user, this distinction between shared and not-shared applications/packages has no apparent effect, as there's only one user with one home folder. But since there will be support for more users than one eventually, it makes sense to learn the right way from the start.</p>
<p>Under Haiku's predecessor BeOS, this folder was named <spanclass="path">/boot/beos/</span>. You may still find it in some older documentation (e.g. in the original BeBook).<br/>
Most of the folders inside <spanclass="path">/boot/system/</span> are read-only, which is sensible as they contain the files necessary for Haiku to function correctly and therefore have to be safe from (accidental) alteration. The only user-writable folders are:</p>
<tr><td><spanclass="path">/boot/system/cache/</span></td><td></td><td>Contains cached files and the temporary folder linked to <spanclass="path">/tmp/</span>.</td></tr>
<tr><tdclass="onelinetop"><spanclass="path">/boot/system/non-packaged/</span></td><td></td><td>Contains a hierarchy for files that aren't part of a .hpkg (probably from old BeOS archives).</td></tr>
<tr><td><spanclass="path">/boot/system/packages/</span></td><td></td><td>Besides holding Haiku's system packages, you can add/remove packages shared by all users.</td></tr>
<tr><td><spanclass="path">/boot/system/var/</span></td><td></td><td>Contains logs like the syslog (important when troubleshooting) and is the default location for the swap file.</td></tr>
<p><spanclass="box-info">For more information on the <spanclass="path">packages</span> and <spanclass="path">non-packaged</span> folders, see topic <ahref="">Installing applications</a>.</span></p>
<p>This folder belongs to you. Here you can create and delete files and folders as you wish. (By the way, the tilde ("<tt>~</tt>") is a shortcut for your home folder, so you don't always have to write "<spanclass="path">/boot/home/</span>" in Terminal.)<br/>
Files that you'd like to share with other users in a future multi-user environment have do be put outside <spanclass="path">/boot/home/</span>. For example, you could create a folder <spanclass="path">/boot/all-users/</span> and put the stuff there.</p>
<td>Holds the files of your desktop. Double-clicking won't open it, as it is already always visible. When your files happen to be obscured by open windows, just switch quickly to another <ahref="workspaces.html">Workspace</a>. Of course, <ahref="tracker.html#drill-down">drilling</a> down by right-clicking is also possible.</td></tr>
<p>The folder <spanclass="path">/boot/home/config/</span> is special: just like <spanclass="path">/boot/system/</span> it's mostly under the control of the package management and therefore read-only. It too contains these similar user-writable folders:</p>
<p><spanclass="box-info">For more information on the <spanclass="path">packages</span> and <spanclass="path">non-packaged</span> folders, see topic <ahref="">Installing applications</a>.</span></p>
<p>Here are some of the more interesting subfolders in <spanclass="path">~/config/settings</span>:</p>
