• superkret@feddit.org
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    2 months ago

    I know the distinction between /bin and /sbin, I just don’t know what purpose it serves.

    Historically, /bin contained binaries that were needed before /usr was mounted during the boot process (/usr was usually on a networked drive).
    Nowadays that’s obsolete, and most distros go ahead and merge the directories.

    • linearchaos@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      It’s easier to manage security that way.

      Instead of having one binary folder full of stuff that’s intended to be run with privilege access and non-privilege access, all the privileged stuff goes in sbin and you don’t even see it in your path as a regular user. It also means that access rights can be controlled at the folder level instead of the individual file level.