Dear All,

I got annoyed with so-and-so going in /usr/lib and such-and-such going in /usr/local/lib, so I rashly decided to mv everything from /usr/local to their corresponding /usr directories, and made /usr/local a symlink to /usr. I might have lost some man pages along the way, but everything (LFS plus XFree86) seems copacetic. Should I be flogged for breaking some hierarchy norm? Will something soon go BOING and panic my kernel? Or better yet, is there something else I could have done to help everybody -- er, every ./configure - find the prerequisites they are looking for, without having indulged my nihilistic streak?

Thanks - Ben

/usr/local is usually reserved for those packages not installed by root user. If it were me, I'd leave the actual directory there not making a symlink. Some packages might compile to use it, some might not, most of the time it will install there when your not root though. Don't think it will create any problems though, only when you install something it might not like it, etc.

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what about using /usr/local as a substitute of /opt
This way you can make the whole /usr as a separate partition.

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I've actually avoided using /usr/local (doesn't even exist on my machine), just so I can cut down on the number of directories I have to have. Of course this is a single user and single Linux machine so it doesn't need anything to keep programs in one place for multiple machines or operating systems.

Here's a debate about /usr/local:
http://lfs.osuosl.org/blfs/view/cvs/.../position.html

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I don't see why it matters. It just one more directory.