On 1-Oct-07, at 11:22 AM, Earle Martin wrote:
On 30/09/2007, Peter da Silva <pe...@taronga.com> wrote:
/usr/local is for standard stuff that doesn't come with the system.
On this Mac OS X malarkey it's /opt/local, apparently. Even though
there is a /usr/local. Which just strikes me as peculiar to say the
least.
The Filesystem Hierarchy Standard[1] says:
/opt : Add-on application software packages
Purpose
/opt is reserved for the installation of add-on application
software packages.
A package to be installed in /opt must locate its static files in a
separate /opt/<package> or /opt/<provider> directory tree, where
<package> is a name that describes the software package and
<provider> is the provider's LANANA registered name.
and
/usr/local : Local hierarchy
Purpose
The /usr/local hierarchy is for use by the system administrator
when installing software locally. It needs to be safe from being
overwritten when the system software is updated. It may be used for
programs and data that are shareable amongst a group of hosts, but
not found in /usr.
Locally installed software must be placed within /usr/local rather
than /usr unless it is being installed to replace or upgrade
software in /usr. [27]
Which is how I've seen things used on OS X. MacPorts, for example,
installs in /opt/local. Personally I think it should be /opt/ports,
to satisfy the <package> or <provider> requirements, but oh well. The
cisco vpn installs stuff in /opt as well.
/usr/local is where things I install go (ie. from source)
[1]: http://www.pathname.com/fhs/pub/fhs-2.3.html, see also http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filesystem_Hierarchy_Standard
