I'm just curious as to how people handle new software. For instance, I install almost everything I install in /opt/<directory>.

I don't know why. I just do. I like knowing where everything is. I can't stand the normal "splatter files EVERY WHICH WAY" way of doing things. That sucks IMO.

How do you guys handle software? Maybe I'll get some good ideas.

Hmmm i install it wherever it wants to be installed

except if i'm installing from tarballs i have place the untarred folders in the /home/user/tmp folder...just so it doesn't get mixed up with anything else...

Garry

You mean the actual tarballs right? Not the install directory for the tarballs?

I too just go with wherever the program goes usually. I see your reasoning behind wanting to put things in a specific place, and there is nothing wrong with that. In fact, it's probably a decent idea. I just like going with the flow for now though, and put things where the author wants them to go.

Cool

I guess the standard is to put the main system stuff w/ prefix=/usr and all else w/ prefix=/usr/local (usually the default). That's usually the way I do it, but If it's something that i'm trying out, i'll put it somewhere else. The drawback with that is that you have to do all that linking of the binaries, or put the path in your aah.. PATH. the LFS docs said something about how it's usually better to use /usr or /usr/local b/c that's where some programs look look for the stuff. Also, sometimes you need to let the install just do it's thing (especially if it's a system program that has to do stuff in "/").

Check out the "install-log" package from here:

http://hints.linuxfromscratch.org/hints/install-log.txt

It will list all of the files that were installed with a package and put it in /var/install-log/<package>

Excellent reply Adam, and I have seen several mentions of the install log in different threads, I guess it's time I give it a try

Thanks for the link

Cool

For me, it really depends on what I'm installing. Small user utilities usually go into /usr/local, while larger apps like databases and such go into /opt so that I can separate out the files a little better.

I install it where it wants to go. It would be nice if linux had a /apps folder where all the executable files would go, or atleast have the link files/shortcuts there.

I could be wrong but I though "/bin" was an apps (type) folder -but I preobably have no idea what im talking about

No, you are sort of right (actually I think it's usually more often /usr/bin). But it's more like a "general" folder. A lot of programs go in there, usually in sub directories like /usr/local/bin and such. But then you have system commands/super user folder /sbin and such.

I really think that the mentality for everything being in an /apps directory or something like that is something to try to 'learn' away from. You could create one yourself, and do all the symlinking and such, but really it's not worth it. By default *most* distros I've used will set the path for the programs that you install during the initial system install. From there, if you encounter a program that installs to an odd path, you can always add that path your system path in /etc/profile or ~/.bash_profile or whatever, but it's not really very common for things not to go into your PATH.

The best solution I think is Adam's response with the install-log. This would show you the list of things installed. This is the only reason I could think of for having the /apps directory anway. To see all programs in your PATH anyway, press TAB like 2 or 3 times, but be prepared for a helluva list of files.

And you don't have to install programs btw. You can download the source, configure it, run the makefile and then optionally run make install. You don't have to. You can run the program with absolute path to try the program out before installing it with make install. And if it sucks, then you won't have to worry about what you have to do to uninstall it.

Anyway, that's my thoughts on something like an /apps directory.

Cool