[OT] What Does "/etc" Stand For and Why?

[Brett Kirksey]

On Monday 27 September 2004 at 11:03+0100, Benjamin Edwards wrote:

> etcetera

Thanks for the response. Do you know _why_ it stands for "et cetera"? I mean they could have used "/etc" for the name of the "/var" directory just as easily. Why didn't they name it "/cfg" for config or "/prf" for preferences? The question really is, if "/etc" really means "et cetera", why did they choose such a generic name for a directory in which very specific things go?

Thanks,
Brett