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. This makes it utterly impossible for a bad port to break my system, and the worst I ever have to do in order to roll back is to wipe out these directories and restore from a backup. This also eases my backup strategy. I don't bother with /usr, /bin or other directories which can be reconstructed entirely by reinstalling the same set of packages. Since /home is backed up completely, the software I'd have to track down and reconfigure is fully backed up. Of course, YMMV -- this won't work so well if you're installing for multiple users on a single system. Brian McGroarty http://www.mcgroarty.net -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]