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The /System directory contains applications, documents, and resources that are part of the Mac OS X operating system. It is analogous to the System Folder in the Mac OS, with one major exception:
With Mac OS X, the operating system "owns" the /System directory. As part of the upgrade process from one release of the operating system to the next, the files and directories under /System may be overwritten or modified. For this reason, users and developers should not make changes to the /System directory. To protect /System against inadvertent alteration, it and its subdirectories can be altered only by users with root privileges.
The standard directories under /System are these:
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Administration |
Contains Apple-supported applications that are used mainly by system administrators and network managers. | |
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Applications |
Contains Apple-supported applications for users. In it are general-interest applications like TextEdit, Preferences, MailViewer, and PrintManager. | |
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Demos |
Contains programs that demonstrate the capabilities of Mac OS X. These aren't full applications and aren't supported by Apple. However, they include games and utilities that users, not just developers, might find interesting. | |
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Developer |
Contains Apple-supported applications and files that are used for developing Mac OS X applications. | |
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Applications |
Contains Apple-supported programs for application development, such as Project Builder and Interface Builder. |
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Examples |
Contains source code for example programs. |
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Documentation |
Contains Apple-supported documentation of interest to various types of users, on the subjects of: | |
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Administrator |
...system administration |
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Developer |
...application development |
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User |
...end-user applications |
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... |
...other topics, for example UNIX manual pages. |
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Installation |
Contains records created during product installation. These records are used by the Installer application to control upgrading and uninstallation of software products. | |
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Contains resource files organized into several directories. Click the link at left for more information. | ||
Library directories organize the resource files used by applications and the operating system. In particular, /System/Library contains system-wide resources, such as standard fonts, sounds, and software frameworks.
Here's a list of the directories that typically appear in /System/Library. [[ Descriptions forthcoming ]]
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Adaptors |
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Addresses |
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ColorPickers |
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Colors |
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Devices |
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Drivers |
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Fax |
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Fonts |
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Frameworks |
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Images |
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People |
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InputManagers |
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Java |
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Keyboards |
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Mac OS |
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Models |
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Preferences |
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PrinterTypes |
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PS2Resources |
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Receipts |
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Rulebooks |
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Services |
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Sounds |
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