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| This computer term actually has nothing to do with trees or root beer. Instead, it is commonly used in reference to a computer's directory structure. The root directory is the top-level directory of a file system. For example, on a Windows-based PC, "C:\" would be the root directory of the C drive. On a Web server, the root directory is usually designated by just a forward slash ("/ "). So, on a Unix system, you would type "cd /" (change directory to root) to go to the root directory. Root is also the name of the user who has complete administrative privleges on a Unix or Linux server. While most users can only access their own directory (i.e. "/www/users/~fred/"), the root user can access any folder from the root directory down. This allows the root user to make system changes such as modifying the permissions of other users without telling them. |
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