[Matt OS X]

I'm curious, what's the difference between: System folder and library folder?

For instance: Let's talk about fonts.. I see there's a font folder located in

System>Library>Fonts
and
Library>Fonts

Where do I store the fonts that I've downloaded from websites? Anyway, my point is that what's difference between the System>Library folder and Library folder?

Thanks in advance

[mikebeam]

You shouldn't install anything of your own in /System/Library/. That's only for Apple. If you install a font in /Library/Fonts/, that font will be available to all users of your system. If you install a font in ~/Library/Fonts/, the font will be available only to yourself. This logic holds true for any resource located in the Library/ subdirectories.

-Mike

[Link]

The fonts in /system/library are used by the windowserver itself. I wouldn't reccomend changing them/swapping them with other fonts not so much because it's 'bad' but because if you do, it will change the permissions, and there's a high tendancy for 3rd party fonts not to work so well which will cause a mess

[tooki]

Basically, OS X replicates the same "Library" structure in many places in the computer:

-in each user folder (~/Library) --> available only to that user, for user-added things
-right at the root of the hard drive (/Library) --> systemwide, for admin user-added things
-in the System folder (/System/Library) --> systemwide, for Apple-provided things only
-in Network (/Network/Library) --> networkwide, for network administrator-provided things

Effectively, for any given user, the contents of all those various Libraries are combined, and the user sees the total resources of all of them.

The whole reason for this is to be able to distribute resources (like fonts, screen saver modules, preference panes, etc) in various scopes -- just one person? everyone on one computer? everyone on the network? -- and to keep the required resources isolated and protected, so they can't be damaged (which is why there is the /System/Library folder, which is only for the basic Apple-provided things).

Does this help?

tooki

[Talk2Angus]

/System/Library/. That's only for Apple!!!!!!!!!