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I want to install PHPStorm IDE on my PC. The Linux version is distributed as a .tar.gz archive which contains bin, help, jre64, lib, license and plugin directories and 2 text files.

I have searched around and the place for user-intalled programs is apparently /usr/local or /opt.

  1. Should I install it into /usr/local or /opt?
  2. In case that /usr/local was the answer to the first question: /usr/local already contains some directories which are the same as in the PHPStorm archive (bin, lib); should I copy the directories from the archive directly into /usr/local or create a phpstorm subdirectory and put them there?
Gilles 'SO- stop being evil'
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1 Answers1

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Consider that you have two options installing software:

1) System-wide: the application will be accesible by all users, and have to be installed with administrator (root) privilegies. 2) Only for your user, inside your /home/user, installation does not need administrator privilegies.

In the 1) case you normally have the two places you mention: /usr/local and /opt. If the .tar.gz has an own directory structure, I recomend you put files inside /opt/PHPStorm, mantaining the structure. /usr/local is more suitable for installers that knows its sub-directories.

Nevertheless, for an IDE like PHPStorm, it would be better install it inside your home, in location like /home/user/bin/PHPStorm. This way it would be easier to upgrade, to install complements, etc.

tormes
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