Table of Contents
The Amiga filesystem
Like Windows, but unlike OS-X and Linux, the Amiga has a multi-rooted filesystem. That is, you don't have a single “/” root directory that all other filesystems are found under.
Devices, Volumes and Assigns
On the Amiga, all of the above have alphanumeric names. When you see them used, they usually end with a “:”.
Devices includes things like SER: (serial port), CON: (console/shell) or DF0: (first floppy disk), DH0: (first hard disk). The equivalent on Linux are the files under /dev/. They are not part of the filesystem like in Linux, but they are important to be aware of, especially since their names makes them look the same as volumes and assigns.
Volumes are actual filesystems mounted with a name. E.g. commonly System:, Work: etc., that refer to a filesystem on a partition on one of the disk devices.
Assigns are best described as temporary aliases. E.g. LIBS: (equivalent to /lib, /usr/lib etc. on Linux), DEVS: (equivalent to device driver modules under /lib/modules/ on Linux). You can create your own assigns.
Important Assigns
| Name | Windows equivalent | Linux equivalent | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| C: | C:\Windows\System32 | /bin,/usr/bin,/sbin etc. | Where shell commands go |
| DEVS: | /dev | Device drivers are stored here | |
| ENV: | No equivalent | Environment variables are stored here as files | |
| ENVARC: | No equivalent | Persistent environment variables. Copied to ENV: on startup | |
| FONTS: | Deep in the bowels of X11 | System wide fonts | |
| L: | ??? | ??? | |
| LIBS: | /lib,/usr/lib etc. | Libraries | |
| just anywhere | C:\Program Files | Application directory | |
| PROGDIR: | ??? | The directory of the current program | |
| RAD: | Ram disk. Recoverable after warm reboot | ||
| RAM: | No standard path | No standard path | Ram disk. Temporary storage |
| S: | No direct equivalent | Scripts | |
| T: | C:\Windows\Temp | /tmp, /var/tmp | Temporary files |
".info" files
“.info” determine whether a file is visible on the Workbench by default or not. To be visible, it needs to have a “.info” file unless the user selects to see all files. The “.info” file also contains additional information, such as “tooltypes” that can be used to pass configuration information to the program. The “.info” file can contain a custom image.
TODO: Description of deficons etc.
Permissions
AmigaOS is not a multi-user system. As a result, files does not have users.
For a file to be executable, it needs to have the “e” permission set.
TODO: Protect example + how to do it from Workbench / file managers.
