<s>
A	O
home	B-Application
directory	I-Application
is	O
a	O
file	B-Application
system	I-Application
directory	I-Application
on	O
a	O
multi-user	B-Operating_System
operating	I-Operating_System
system	I-Operating_System
containing	O
files	B-Operating_System
for	O
a	O
given	O
user	O
of	O
the	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
specifics	O
of	O
the	O
home	B-Application
directory	I-Application
(	O
such	O
as	O
its	O
name	O
and	O
location	O
)	O
are	O
defined	O
by	O
the	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
involved	O
;	O
for	O
example	O
,	O
Linux	B-Application
/	B-Application
BSD	B-Operating_System
(	O
FHS	B-Application
)	O
systems	O
use	O
/home/	O
or	O
/usr/home/	O
and	O
Windows	B-Application
systems	O
between	O
2000	B-Application
and	O
Server	B-Application
2003	I-Application
keep	O
home	B-Application
directories	I-Application
in	O
a	O
folder	O
named	O
Documents	B-Application
and	I-Application
Settings	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
user	O
's	O
home	B-Application
directory	I-Application
is	O
intended	O
to	O
contain	O
that	O
user	O
's	O
files	B-Operating_System
;	O
including	O
text	O
documents	O
,	O
music	O
,	O
pictures	O
,	O
videos	O
,	O
etc	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
may	O
also	O
include	O
their	O
configuration	B-Protocol
files	I-Protocol
of	O
preferred	O
settings	O
for	O
any	O
software	O
they	O
have	O
used	O
there	O
and	O
might	O
have	O
tailored	O
to	O
their	O
liking	O
:	O
web	B-Application
browser	I-Application
bookmarks	O
,	O
favorite	O
desktop	B-Application
wallpaper	O
and	O
themes	B-Application
,	O
stored	O
passwords	O
to	O
any	O
external	O
services	O
accessed	O
via	O
a	O
given	O
software	O
,	O
etc	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
user	O
can	O
install	O
executable	O
software	O
in	O
this	O
directory	B-Application
,	O
but	O
it	O
will	O
only	O
be	O
available	O
to	O
users	O
with	O
permission	O
to	O
execute	O
files	B-Operating_System
in	O
this	O
directory	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
home	B-Application
directory	I-Application
can	O
be	O
organized	O
further	O
with	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
sub-directories	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
content	O
of	O
a	O
user	O
's	O
home	B-Application
directory	I-Application
is	O
protected	O
by	O
file-system	B-Application
permissions	O
,	O
and	O
by	O
default	O
is	O
accessible	O
to	O
all	O
authenticated	O
users	O
and	O
administrators	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Any	O
other	O
user	O
that	O
has	O
been	O
granted	O
administrator	B-Application
privileges	I-Application
has	O
authority	O
to	O
access	O
any	O
protected	O
location	O
on	O
the	O
file	B-Application
system	I-Application
including	O
other	O
users	O
home	B-Application
directories	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Separating	O
user	O
data	O
from	O
system-wide	O
data	O
avoids	O
redundancy	O
and	O
makes	O
backups	O
of	O
important	O
files	B-Operating_System
relatively	O
simple	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Furthermore	O
,	O
Trojan	O
horses	O
,	O
viruses	O
,	O
and	O
worms	O
running	O
under	O
the	O
user	O
's	O
name	O
and	O
with	O
their	O
privileges	O
will	O
in	O
most	O
cases	O
only	O
be	O
able	O
to	O
alter	O
the	O
files	B-Operating_System
in	O
the	O
user	O
's	O
home	B-Application
directory	I-Application
,	O
and	O
perhaps	O
some	O
files	B-Operating_System
belonging	O
to	O
workgroups	O
the	O
user	O
is	O
a	O
part	O
of	O
,	O
but	O
not	O
actual	O
system	B-General_Concept
files	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Operating	O
systemPathEnvironment	O
variableAT&T	O
Unix	O
(	O
original	O
version	O
)	O
/usr/	O
$	O
HOMEUnix-derived/var/users//u01//usr//user//users/Unix	O
-based	O
"	O
Home	B-Application
Directory	I-Application
Definition	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
file	O
on	O
many	O
Linux	B-Application
systems	O
defines	O
the	O
subdirectories	B-Application
created	O
for	O
users	O
by	O
default	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Creation	O
is	O
normally	O
done	O
with	O
the	O
first	O
login	B-General_Concept
by	O
Xdg-user-dirs	O
,	O
a	O
tool	O
to	O
help	O
manage	O
"	O
well	O
known	O
"	O
user	O
directories	B-Application
like	O
desktop	B-Application
,	O
downloads	O
,	O
documents	O
,	O
pictures	O
,	O
videos	O
,	O
or	O
music	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
Unix	O
,	O
the	O
working	B-Application
directory	I-Application
is	O
automatically	O
set	O
to	O
a	O
user	O
's	O
home	B-Application
directory	I-Application
when	O
they	O
log	B-General_Concept
in	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
many	O
built-in	O
commands	O
,	O
typing	O
the	O
(	O
tilde	O
)	O
character	O
is	O
equivalent	O
to	O
specifying	O
the	O
current	O
user	O
's	O
home	B-Application
directory	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Unix	O
superuser	B-Application
has	O
access	O
to	O
all	O
directories	B-Application
on	O
the	O
file	B-Application
system	I-Application
,	O
and	O
hence	O
can	O
access	O
home	B-Application
directories	I-Application
of	O
all	O
users	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
superuser	B-Application
's	O
home	B-Application
directory	I-Application
on	O
older	O
systems	O
was	O
,	O
but	O
on	O
many	O
newer	O
systems	O
it	O
is	O
located	O
at	O
(	O
Linux	B-Application
,	O
BSD	B-Operating_System
)	O
,	O
or	O
(	O
Mac	B-Operating_System
OS	I-Operating_System
X	I-Operating_System
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
OpenVMS	B-Operating_System
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
,	O
a	O
user	O
's	O
home	B-Application
directory	I-Application
is	O
called	O
the	O
root	B-Application
directory	I-Application
,	O
and	O
the	O
equivalent	O
of	O
a	O
Unix/DOS/Windows/AmigaOS	O
root	B-Application
directory	I-Application
is	O
referred	O
to	O
as	O
the	O
Master	O
File	B-Application
Directory	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Single-user	B-Operating_System
operating	B-General_Concept
systems	I-General_Concept
simply	O
have	O
a	O
single	O
directory	B-Application
or	O
partition	B-Application
for	O
all	O
user	O
files	B-Operating_System
,	O
there	O
is	O
no	O
individual	O
directory	B-Application
setup	O
per	O
user	O
(	O
though	O
users	O
can	O
still	O
setup	O
and	O
maintain	O
directories	B-Application
inside	O
this	O
main	O
working	B-Application
directory	I-Application
manually	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
AmigaOS	B-Application
versions	O
2	O
and	O
up	O
have	O
"	O
System	O
"	O
and	O
"	O
Work	O
"	O
partitions	B-Application
on	O
hard	O
disks	O
by	O
default	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
BeOS	B-Application
(	O
and	O
its	O
successors	O
)	O
have	O
a	O
/home	B-Application
directory	B-Application
which	O
contains	O
the	O
files	B-Operating_System
belonging	O
to	O
the	O
single	B-Operating_System
user	I-Operating_System
of	O
the	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Versions	O
of	O
Windows	B-Application
prior	O
Windows	B-Application
95	I-Application
OEM	O
Service	O
Release	O
2	O
did	O
not	O
have	O
a	O
user	O
folder	O
but	O
,	O
since	O
that	O
release	O
,	O
became	O
in-effect	O
the	O
single	B-Operating_System
user	I-Operating_System
's	O
home	B-Application
directory	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
NeXTSTEP	B-Application
and	O
OPENSTEP	B-Operating_System
in	O
a	O
single-user	B-Operating_System
,	O
non-networked	O
setup	O
,	O
is	O
used	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
when	O
logged	O
in	O
as	O
superuser	B-Application
.	O
</s>
