in linux, where do i install stuff to

[NuclearFusi0n]

I know stuff can be installed anywhere, but what's the typical place to dump a folder with binaries in it? like i want to extract the phoenix folder, but i dont know where to put it. like in windows it's "program files" what's the "normal" place to drop off binaries?

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

normally i put stuff like that in ~/bin. you could also put it in /usr/local. those are the 2 common places you would put user-installed software.

 

[NuclearFusi0n]

just to clarify for peace of mind, the two normal places to put user installed binaries is

(for example, i'll use phoenix, with the home folder being /root)

/root/bin/phoenix/
/usr/local/phoenix/


that's correct? ...interesting does putting it in ~ make it inaccessible to other users?

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

well not in root's home directory, in your home directory. if you leave the permissions as-is, it should be accessible to other users as well.

the only thing that makes it sort of weird is that normally applications dont put everything in one directory, they scatter them around in bin, share, etc. so if you put something in /usr/local/phoenix/, then the binary will be at /usr/local/phoenix/bin/phoenix. then you will either need to type out that whole path, add it to your path, make a symlink, or make an alias in your shell. i just install stuff to ~/bin, isolate each one to its own subdirectory, and then make a symlink which is in my path since ~/bin is in my path.

for example i'll install waimea to ~/bin/waimea-0.4/, so i have ~/bin/waimea-0.4/bin/waimea being the executeable itself, and in place of bin, there are also the usual directories, man, share, etc. then i make a symlink at ~/bin/waimea. its all kind of hairy, but thats what happens when you install things in strange ways

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: NuclearFusi0n
just to clarify for peace of mind, the two normal places to put user installed binaries is

(for example, i'll use phoenix, with the home folder being /root)

/root/bin/phoenix/
/usr/local/phoenix/


that's correct? ...interesting does putting it in ~ make it inaccessible to other users?

man hier

phoenix should probably go into /usr/local. The binary for the browser itself probably in /usr/local/bin. Dont use the root user.

 

[Poontos]

Originally posted by: NuclearFusi0n
I know stuff can be installed anywhere, but what's the typical place to dump a folder with binaries in it? like i want to extract the phoenix folder, but i dont know where to put it. like in windows it's "program files" what's the "normal" place to drop off binaries?

At your prompt, type env

Copy and paste the output into your reply.

Within it, you will see your "PATH" variable. For you to be able to run/execute an executable program by just typing "programname" without the absolute path (/home/johndoe/programname or /sbin or /usr/bin or /usr/local/bin/apachectl) being specified, this program "programname" must be located in one of the directories that are specified in your "PATH" variable, or a symbolic link, or alias as BBWF mentioned. Otherwise, like I say, you would need to type in the absolute path of the executable program - e.g. /usr/sbin/traceroute

Now there are requirements for programs/binaries to be able to execute them, but in general, at minimum, the file permissions need the execute (X) notation setup before you can execute it.

Follow the other lads advice as well. One step at a time...