sw/ is specifically choosen
as _not_ a common location, so that it doesn't interfere with
anything you
might have put in the common locations. (Or that Apple might put
there.)
Just for the record, I've never seen anything from Apple put under /
usr/local .
My observation is that most software is set up by default to install
under /usr/local if you get it from the original source, but if you
get it downstream, it will tend to get installed elsewhere. If your
distro has "official distro package" versions (customized for the
distro), those will tend to go under /usr . In the case of fink, they
are neither official distro (Apple) nor the original source, and the
packages are almost invariably customized, so it would make sense to
put them under a third tree, thus, /sw .
Mind you, I don't use fink, I generally tend to go to the source. I'm
kind of weird that way. (And then I have to bug Sherm to explain why
things don't work for me. Heh.)
