File extensions
From Linux 101, The beginner's guide to all things Linux.
Knowing file extensions really helps to understand what a program is doing or using.
File extensions are not always used in Linux. For example, there is no .exe equivalent in Linux. Executables are denoted by file permissions, not extensions. In directories such as /etc, many files do not use a file extension because it is in /etc it is assumed to be a configuration (ASCII text) file.
This is not a complete listing of all extensions, just the ones found commonly in Linux.
Contents |
[edit] A
- a
- a static library
[edit] B
- bin
- a) a binary image of a CD (usually a .cue file is also included)
b) represents that the file is binary and is meant to be executed
[edit] C
- c
- A C source file
- conf
- A configuration file. System-wide config files reside in /etc while any user-specific configuration will be somewhere in the user's home directory.
- cpp
- A C++ source file
[edit] D
- deb
- a Debian Package.
- diff
- A file containing instructions to apply a patch from a base version to another version of a single file or a project (such as the linux kernel).
- dsc
- a Debian Source information file.
[edit] E
- ebuild
- Bash script used to install programs through the portage system. Especially prevalent on Gentoo systems.
- el
- Emacs Lisp code file.
- elc
- Compiled Emacs Lisp code file.
[edit] F
[edit] G
[edit] H
- h
- C header file.
[edit] I
- iso
- A image (copy) of a CD-ROM or DVD in the ISO-9660 filesystem format.
[edit] J
[edit] K
- ko
- The kernel module extension for the 2.6.x series kernel
[edit] L
- la
- A file created by libtool to aide in using the library.
- lo
- The intermediate file of a library that is being compiled
- log
- Denotes a system or program's log file
[edit] M
- m4
- M4 macro code file.
[edit] N
[edit] O
- o
- 1) The intermediate file of a program that is being compiled
2) The kernel module extension for a 2.4 series kernel
[edit] P
- php
- Denotes file as a PHP script
- pid
- Some programs write their process ID into a file with this extention.
- pl
- a Perl script
- py
- Denotes file as a Python script
[edit] Q
[edit] R
- rpm
- an rpm package. See Distributions of Linux for a list of distributions that use rpms as a part of their package management system.
[edit] S
- s
- An assembly source code file.
- sh
- Denotes file as a shell script
- so
- Denotes file as a Shared Object, which is a shared library. This is the equivalent form of a Windows DLL file.
[edit] T
- tar.bz2
tbz2 - a compressed file per File Compression
- tar.gz
tgz - a compressed file per File Compression
This may also denote a Slackware binary or source package.
[edit] U
[edit] V
[edit] W
[edit] X
- xbm
- an XWindows Bitmap image.
- xcf.gz
- xcf
- A GIMP image (native image format of the GIMP).
- xwd
- a screenshot or image of a window taken with xwd.
