Linux

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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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What is the /opt directory? (lemmy.zip)

submitted 8 months ago by AlexPewMaster@lemmy.zip to c/linux@lemmy.ml

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I've seen a lot of self-hosted software wanting to store their data in /opt, is there any reason why?

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[–] solidgrue@lemmy.world 11 points 8 months ago

General use, when you can install software through your system's package manager then that's the preferred way to get software on your system. For the most part, those applications live under /usr

If for some reason you prefer to install the package manually, best practice is to install it outside /usr to avoid potential conflicts with existing system libraries. The /opt ("optional") system is a common place to install these apps. Many modern install scripts already default to using /opt

It's also convenient for backing up those apps.