* Brian McGroarty (brian@mcgroarty.net) [030206 22:56]: > On Thu, Feb 06, 2003 at 06:48:47PM -0000, Colin Ellis wrote: > > General Rule - anything not part of the distribution, compile from source > > and use the installation prefix of /usr/local/ > > > > This will keep your custom installation separate from the distribution and > > give you an easy upgrade route later on. > > > > If the program needs it's own shared libraries then don't forget to add the > > /usr/local/lib path to /etc/ld.so.conf. > > I like to take this a step further; I prefer to install anything that > isn't in a Debian package within my home directory. I have > ~/ports/usr, ~/ports/bin, ~/ports/var etc. You can achieve a similar effect by adding your non-root user account to the staff group and installing under /usr/local/ as this user. This way software gets installed in global, multi-user location, but without root privileges you can't hose the Debian parts of your system. I find it best to grant users permissions via groups where possible. For another example, adding your non-root user account to 'adm' allows you to inspect the logs without becoming root. The less you become root, the less likely you are to make a catastrophic error. good times, Vineet -- http://www.doorstop.net/ -- "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." --Benjamin Franklin
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