Bob Fletcher wrote:
I am using FC 5 and still have much to learn about Linux. One issue that
confuses me relates to the "proper" locations of application files. As a
specific example, I am using the latest Eclipse package, Ver 3.1.2.
However, I am also experimenting with Eclipse on a Windows machine, and
its version is 3.2. So for comparison purposes, I downloaded Eclipse Ver
3.2 to my home directory on my Linux machine. Thus, I now have two
versions of Eclipse on my Linux machine. (Both seem to work correctly
with the corresponding CDT plugins.) Nevertheless, this raises lots of
questions in my mind:
Is this a sane thing to do?
Should I try to relocate the files into more appropriate directories?
Will this mess up yum?
Please note that I am not too concerned with this specific example. The
problem arises every time I build new applications from the original
source files. I am not sure what to do with the created files. Are there
standard procedures to follow? How will this affect yum-related
installations?
General rules of thumb:
* Don't tinker with anything installed using rpm/yum as it's all
recorded in a database and overwriting/shuffling around files will break
the operation of the database.
* If you download and install something manually, put it anywhere you
like as long as it's not somewhere likely to conflict with packages you
might install using rpm/yum. Good options include /usr/local, /opt, or
your home directory.
So what you're doing looks OK to me.
Paul.
