Guess how many files you end up with on your hard drive after a single-CD Debian 6 installation. Go on – we’ll wait. Well, the answer is 82,698. That seems almost unbelievable – and impossible to manage – but fortunately the Linux filesystem layout handles this vast number of files well, providing everything with a sensible place to live. You don’t need to know what each individual file does in great detail, but from its location you can determine its overall purpose in the grand scheme of things.