[olug] Installing software under /usr/local

[Jay Swackhamer]

Most software that you would compile from source has an install portion, and
configure options that you can define for the installation directory.

The default is usually /usr/local/ bin, lib, etc,   etc....

If you use the default paths, then if you ever need to uninstall, you wont
need to think about it, just go to the source directory and do a
make uninstall      (not all, but most packages)


> I feel bad about promulgating the (admittedly trivial) flame war, so I'm
> going to ask a legit question.
>
> Let's say I have a fine Linux box and most of my software has come to me
> as RPMs or .deb files.  But, I need to pick up the sources
> for a more recent version of some software, and I want to install it
> under "/usr/local".  Let's say I want the latest version of The GIMP.
> Should I install it under a directory I create called "/usr/local/gimp"
> or should I put The Gimp's libs under "/usr/local/lib", the executable
> under "/usr/local/bin", and so on?
>
> I've always leaned towards putting all the files under
> their own directory, then adding those that I want to my path
> (PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/gimp/bin).  That way I can keep the software
> versions straight, but it can be inconvenient when adding new users to
> the system and lead to a long path.
>
> Comments?  Opinions?
>
> --
> Dave Burchell                                          40.49'N, 96.41'W
> Free your mind and your software will follow.              402-467-1619
> http://incolor.inetnebr.com/burchell/                  burchell at acm.org
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-- 
Jay Swackhamer

Reboot The User
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