Hi all,
In my Ubuntu 21.04 install, my HOME folder contains my user-installed apps, etc. In my Ubuntu 22.10 install, the HOME folder contains a <USERNAME> folder that contains user-installed apps. For the sake of uniformity I want to move all items out of my <USERNAME> folder in 22.10 and up a level into the HOME folder. Is it safe to do so without trashing my user-installed apps? If so, are there any special considerations I should be aware of? Thanks!

kingcoil

It is in general safe, but probably there are config files which will look for your tools in their old locations. In that case you need to adjust all the references and related settings (like your .bashrc).

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Thanks for the fast response, pan64. There are numerous folders in my .config folder and I have no desire to re-install my user apps. I have no idea which files would need to be changed to a different home folder location. Also, it seems APT and DPKG install new apps into the <USER> folder so I would have to change that behavior each time I install a new app. It appears to me that moving the apps may be a recipe for tragedy lol.

You always try to move one, and move back in case of a problem (or fix that).

Should work basically, but you will likely need to alter the path names, to where you now have put them.

One day you will need to create a new user to test/correct something. If you have made all the necessary changes, you are really going to regret scratching this particular itch.

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I agree. Some things "just are what they are," and I advise you to leave them alone even if you think they smell funny.

I do not use Ubuntu, but usually all apps are installed systemwide, why are dpkg and apt installing into /home/<user> ? Just curious.

no, I don't think so. It was something else, not apt and/or dpkg. But OP will tell us exactly how it was made.

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I see here DPKG and APT mentioned, loud an clear.

What I meant to say was that some packages install folders in the <home/user> folder. Apt apps and dpkgs are indeed installed systemwide. It would be pretty much impossible to determine where all my apps install their data. So, I'm gonna let sleeping dogs lie and leave it all as is. Thanks to all who responded!

kingcoil

What kind of data is this? There is filesystem hierarchy standard, it determines where the binaries go and everything else. System-wide configuration files go to /etc/*, in case user has their own config it goes to ~/.config/*. Databases go to /var/*, so on. See 'man hier'. You will find a Linux system is well organized and everything has its place.

Yep, and historically, from the beginning, each users home directory has been located at /home/user. Attempting to change that would quickly become a nightmare to manage. The OP said he will let sleeping dogs lie, which is probably a good thing.

A benefit of moving a user's home directory to /home is less typing, but there are ways to reduce typing without incurring the disadvantages of putting files in /home.

When in a command-line shell, one can usually use "$HOME/whatever" instead of "/home/username/whatever".

There's an even shorter shortcut that also works outside a shell, which is "~/whatever"

The ~ character is called "tilde", and is in different positions depending on keyboard layouts - US QWERTY has it to the left of 1 (below Esc), as shift-`, whilst UK QWERTY has it next to Enter, as shift-#, (and other layouts may have it in other places).

If the keyboard doesn't have it, or pressing shift is annoying, one could potentially symlink /me -> /home/username and use "/me/whatever" instead.



Also, a slight aside going in the other direction, "/home/username" is only the default - the FHS does not require this, and with a large userbase one might want to use, for example, "/home/department/username" or similar. (Also, other Unix-based systems may use other locations.)

Doing so might break badly written scripts (if they use "/home/$USER" instead of "$HOME"), but it is a permitted choice:

It is definitely organized, but whether it's well organized is debatable.

(If I were doing it, I probably wouldn't have a dozen different directories under which a particular executable might be found.)