Question

I am writing installation script for my program, which is supposed to run on Linux/Unix OS. What is the default directory for the following files:

1. Executable files (programs). Program should be executed by typing its name from the command line.
2. Shared libraries.
3. Third-party shared libraries (the program is not open source, so I need to redistribute third-party libraries).
4. Read-only program configuration files for all users.
5. Configuration data available for read/write access for all users.

Answer 1

The listing varies depending on the Linux filesystem.

1) /bin, /usr/bin, /usr/local/bin

2/3) /lib, /usr/lib, /usr/local/lib

3. /usr/share/lib

4) /etc is a read-only spot for configuration data.

5) /usr/local/etc or usually in the /home directory under the dot directory name, if the profile allows the bin directory to be located under the /home/user_id/bin where ‘user_id’ is the relevant login id.. for an example for user ‘jdoe’, his configuration could be written to /home/jdoe/.configs or ~/.configs

Do not rely on this, for the most part the LSB filesystem dictates that there shall be at minimum:
/bin, /etc, /usr, /lib, /home

For instance, the /usr could be on a different partition, likewise the same for /home

Edit: Thanks to dtrosset for pointing out my blooper….