Non-root installation of programs

Amon2501 · Tux's lil' helper Joined: 12 Dec 2018 Posts: 131

Hello. I want to build and install some software which arent in the portage tree (or just too old in there). So i download the sources, did configure, make. How can i install it from user and not root? I want this program to be able to use system libraries and system binaries if needed but to be installed in my home directory or in some particular place that is intended for such purposes (non system-wide installation). Are there any recommended ways to do this in Gentoo?

Banana · Veteran Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 1404 Location: Germany

If it is only for your user, you can simple create a new direcotry in which your "own" software is located, compiled and ready do go. Then simply create a symlink into /usr/local/bin to the exeutable you want to run from your local software and you are ready to go.

If you don't want to make any symlinks into /usr/local/bin (like, you wan't nothing modified in the "system") you could also create a new folder in which all the new symlinks to your executables are, and add this folder to your $PATH for your user.
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Amon2501 · Tux's lil' helper Joined: 12 Dec 2018 Posts: 131

Thanks. But are there any "standard" ways to do such things? Like /home/user/bin or something that any of "non-portage" packages must recognize and abide. I`ve heard that /usr means Unix System resource therefore it is probably not a good idea to put there. Also what else besides just $PATH environment should i modify to make it work from "userspace"?

NeddySeagoon · Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2023 4:07 pm Post subject:

Amon2501,

The standard install location for will written build systems is /usr/local/...
Badly written build system just install to /usr which may upset already installeh things.

Read

Hu · Administrator Joined: 06 Mar 2007 Posts: 21706

Regardless of where the package's files are installed, it will still have access to see system libraries and run system programs. If you want it system-wide, but not under Portage, then /usr/local is traditional, as Neddy says. If you want it per-user only, and not system-wide, then pick a place under your home directory. I am not aware of a standard for that. Another option would be to find or make an ebuild so that it can be installed system-wide by Portage.

Anon-E-moose · Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2023 10:19 pm Post subject:

I've always had a bin dir under my user, where my shell scripts, as well as a few binaries go.
PATH=/home/<user>/bin:$PATH: works for me puts my dir in the path, put it in .bash_profile/.profile

Never seen a particular place picked for libs though, although the last two times I ran "make -n install" on some packages,
it wanted to put it in ~/.local/lib/<some place> so maybe, it's the start of normalization (for users)
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Amon2501 · Tux's lil' helper Joined: 12 Dec 2018 Posts: 131

Anon-E-moose · Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2023 10:38 pm Post subject:

I'm not a kde user, but you should be able to add programs to the menu system, if nothing else, make a desktop file, use the whole path in Exec=

.local/share/applications/<desktop file>
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PRIME x570-pro, 3700x, 6.1 zen kernel
gcc 13, profile 17.0 (custom bare multilib), openrc, wayland

Amon2501 · Tux's lil' helper Joined: 12 Dec 2018 Posts: 131

Anon-E-moose · Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2023 11:13 pm Post subject:

Desktop files are easy to create.

figueroa · Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2023 4:47 am Post subject: