[NTLUG:Discuss] Sysadmin type question: Where should programs go?

[John K. Taber]

I settled on Thunderbird for a newsreader. It is installed in a login
user's id. No real problem because I'm the only user. 

But suppose I had several users and installed Thunderbird so that each
could use it. 

Where should the system administrator put the package? In /usr/local? 

In other words, I got the impression that some directories are there for
a purpose. I'm too new to Linux to understand what the purposes are, so
if you were installing Thunderbird on one computer for the use of
several users, where would you put it?

Moving right along,
John