LSB and FHS (was Re: [Gllug] tar.gz)

[Simon Stewart]

On Fri, Feb 01, 2002 at 04:15:53PM +0000, tet at accucard.com wrote:
> 
> >So, I could well be wrong then: /opt is for "Add-on application
> >software packages", and /usr/local for hand installed programs. Which
> >raises the question: why does everything either get dumped in the main
> >tree or in /usr/local? Surely other than the base system everything
> >should appear in /opt if installed from a package?
> 
> My take on it is that anything vendor supplied should go in the main
> tree, whereas third party software (e.g., Oracle, WordPerfect, etc.)
> should go in /opt. Some distributions (e.g., SuSE, IIRC) make an
> arbitrary decision to put some packages into /opt. IMHO, that's the
> wrong decision, but no doubt they have their reasons.

But then you get places like /usr/bin turning into an absolute pit
because distros tend to supply so much software now. For example, my
Debian box has about 1976 different programs either there or linked to
from there. The /opt tree is meant to be a lot more structured, which
makes the box a touch easier to admin, and lets you see at a glance
which files belong with which application.

Part of the problem is that stuff like KDE and Gnome like to store
their binaries there too, whereas my instinct is that they really
should be /opt. As is yours, reading your email again. :)

As an aside, where would you put Oracle if it was shipped as part of a
base RedHat install, as is being mooted?

Cheers,

Simon

-- 
You're all sick, except Simon. And he's sick, too. -- Kake Lemon Pugh

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