Where should I put programs that I download so they're available to all users?

Question

Is there a convention that says where I should put programs I download if I want to make them available to all users? Blender, for example, appears to have a compiled executable, but also other directories and files that it (presumably) depends on.

The answer to To which directory should I install a program from a bash script? recommended /opt, but it isn't in my $PATH by default, and my /opt happens to be empty despite installing a lot of stuff from Ubuntu Software Center.

Does this answer your question? [When installing user applications, where do "best practices" suggest they be located?](https://askubuntu.com/questions/1148/when-installing-user-applications-where-do-best-practices-suggest-they-be-loc) — 030, Nov 04 '20 at 14:31

score 15 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 24 '12 at 15:42

15

The preferred method for that is /opt, although some people are known to put them in /usr/local/bin

As for your other question related to the Ubuntu Software center, not all packages in the Ubuntu Software Center are set to install to /opt - in fact, most of them don't follow that "standard".

answered Jan 24 '12 at 15:42

jrg

60,101
54
172
246

So why isn't /opt included in $PATH "out of the box"? – Evan Jan 24 '12 at 15:59
@Evan I'm not sure. I'll update my answer if I find anything though. – jrg Jan 24 '12 at 16:12

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 24 '12 at 16:33

You will get varied opinions on this, even in the documentation.

http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/debian-reference/ch12.en.html#_compile_and_install_a_program

http://wiki.debian.org/FilesystemHierarchyStandard

On the second link, scroll down to /opt and /usr

As pointed out, I personally tend to use /usr/local as it is on the $PATH

Where should I put programs that I download so they're available to all users?

2 Answers2