There are variations, but also common themes and well-established guidelines.

Example 1

root (/) hierarchy:

Directory Description
bin Essential command binaries (e.g. ls, rm, chmod, perl, bash…)
boot Static files of the boot loader
dev Device files (e.g. console, null, tty, stdin/out/err)
etc Host-specific system configuration (e.g. hosts, fstab)
lib Essential shared libraries and kernel modules
media Mount point for removeable media
mnt Mount point for mounting a filesystem temporarily
opt Add-on application software packages
sbin Essential system binaries (e.g. fdisk, fsck)
srv Data for services provided by this system
tmp Temporary files
usr Secondary hierarchy
var Variable data (e.g. mail)

Example 2

Another example:

usr hierarchy:

Directory Description
bin Most user commands (usually installed by package manager)
include Header files included by C programs
lib Libraries
local Local hierarchy (empty after main installation)
sbin Non-vital system binaries
share Architecture-independent data

/usr/local hierarchy:

Directory Description
bin Local binaries (not installed by package manager - eg. compiled)
etc Host-specific system configuration for local binaries
games Local game binaries
include Local C header files
lib Local libraries
man Local online manuals
sbin Local system binaries
share Local architecture-independent hierarchy
src Local source code

Where do I Install my Stuff?

Broadly speaking…

By convention, software compiled and installed manually (not through a package manager, e.g apt, yum, pacman) is installed in /usr/local/.

If you just need to extract a tarball and run directly (e.g. Firefox) then put it into /opt/.

Why So Many Variations?

(1) /bin/
(2) /sbin/
(3) /usr/bin/
(4) /usr/local/bin/
(5) /usr/local/sbin/

  1. /bin (and /sbin) were intended for programs that needed to be on a small / partition before the larger /usr, etc. partitions were mounted. These days, it mostly serves as a standard location for key programs like /bin/sh, although the original intent may still be relevant for e.g. installations on small embedded devices.
  2. /sbin, as distinct from /bin, is for system management programs (not normally used by ordinary users) needed before /usr is mounted.
  3. /usr/bin is for distribution-managed normal user programs.
  4. There is a /usr/sbin with the same relationship to /usr/bin as /sbin has to /bin.
  5. /usr/local/bin is for normal user programs not managed by the distribution package manager, e.g. locally compiled packages. You should not install them into /usr/bin because future distribution upgrades may modify or delete them without warning.
  6. /usr/local/sbin, as you can probably guess at this point, is to /usr/local/bin as /usr/sbin to /usr/bin.

In addition, there is also /opt which is for monolithic non-distribution packages, although before they were properly integrated various distributions put Gnome and KDE there. Generally you should reserve it for large, poorly behaved third party packages such as Oracle.

Run the man hier command to see what you have.

A diagram from here: