Is /usr/bin the standard place to put applications? Or are there other places - ignoring such as /usr/lib where some apps seem to be put but with links to them from /usr/bin.
- posted
4 years ago
Is /usr/bin the standard place to put applications? Or are there other places - ignoring such as /usr/lib where some apps seem to be put but with links to them from /usr/bin.
/Usr/bin is where standard things from your distribution go.
/usr/local/bin is where you can put non-standard software. Or /opt/<XXXX> for specifically local things.
So if I wrote a program, frobintz, I wanted to install for all users of the computer I'd probably put it in /usr/local/bin/frobnitz and have /usr/local/bin on the path.
I'd avoid putting my own stuff into /usr/bin
Not apps that are not part of the distro Normally /usr/local/bin or /opt/bin
The Filesystem Hierarchy Standard defines this. This wikipedia entry is a good place to start:
Thanks for the responses; I have an app for which a Linux version appears feasible now. With the info about where a "standard" install location should be I can adjust its behaviour slightly and update the docs. It'll be supplied as a ZIP file and folk will have to put the components where they think best.
When it's downloadable I'll post a link here.
If you're writing software, you might want to look at autoconf and automake. I use these for my small opensource tools, and they allow distro package maintainers to override the destination directories if required.
Hmmm. I avoid makefile and shell scripts (I tend to use PHP for scripts but it's not, apparently, installed by default under Linux, unlike macOS).
I'm using an IDE for the app, so under macOS I can generate executables for macOS, Win 7/10, and Linux. For Win/Lin I'm using VMs for testing.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.