[NTLUG:Discuss] Sysadmin type question: Where should programs go?
Chris Cox
cjcox at acm.org
Fri May 6 23:16:38 CDT 2005
Ralph Green, Jr. wrote:
> Chris,
> How do you decide what is large and what is
> wrong with using /opt? What kind of trouble
> might this cause? I would normally use /usr/local
> for something like an email program. Textmaker,
> from softmaker shows /opt as the first choice of
> where to install their package. Textmaker is not
> that large a package, and I figured they must know
> something when they made that suggestion. Are you
> drawing the line because textmaker is distributed
> as binaries and thunderbird may well be compiled
> for the system?
Consider...
Ralph's Mozilla build goes into /usr/local
Ubuntu's Mozilla build goes into /opt (not sure if that
where it would go... just an example)
The idea is to separate local build/dist from
product/vendor build/dist. Otherwise you might
collide with that vendor/dist package.
Now.. Textmaker is a product... and IF you are going
with the SW vendor vs. going with a distribution's
Textmaker, then certainly the vendor package is free
to use /opt.... the collision is something you just
have to avoid by policy (e.g. we are a textmaker shop,
BUT we only use the official textmaker software from
Softmaker).
Of course, you can put it into /opt anyhow... there's just
a greater likelihood for collision with either
the distribution's package or the vendor's
package.
That's why I'd avoid putting stuff into /opt. I wouldn't
use /usr for the same reason (/usr/local.... being
the exception under /usr). Just trying to avoid
conflict.
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