[olug] Installing software under /usr/local

[Christopher Cashell]

At Wed, 26 Feb 03, Unidentified Flying Banana Dave Burchell, said:
> 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.

You might want to look into using GNU Stow, or one of the (many) similar
utilities out there.  Stow is a Perl script designed for handling and
managing /usr/local (there's also an xstow, written in C++).  It
creates a tree underneath it where actual applications are stored (i.e.
/usr/local/stow/emacs), and then uses symlinks to give the illusion that
things are installed directly in /usr/local.

These kinds of utilities can greatly simplify local software
installation and maintenance.

> Dave Burchell                                          40.49'N, 96.41'W

-- 
| Christopher
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