<
operating system> (FS, or "filesystem") 1. A
system for
organizing
directories and
files, generally in terms of
how it is implemented in the
disk operating system. E.g.,
"The
Macintosh file system is just dandy as long as you
don't have to interface it with any other
file systems".
2. The collection of files and directories stored on a given
drive (floppy drive, hard drive, disk
partition,
logical
drive,
RAM drive, etc.). E.g., "mount attaches a named
file
system to the
file system hierarchy at the pathname location
directory [
...]" --
Unix manual page for "mount(8)".
As an extension of this sense, "
file system" is sometimes used
to refer to the representatation of the
file system's
organisation (e.g. its
file allocation table) as opposed the
actual content of the files in the
file system.
Unix manual page: fs(5), mount(8).
(1997-04-10)