Re: [gentoo-user] A question regarding non-Portage software...

[Alex Schuster <wonko@wonkology.org>]

Michael [Plouj] Ploujnikov writes:

> You most likely want to install that software in /usr/local as per
> Gentoo's filesystem layout [1]. The way you can do that with
> autotoolized software is like this:
>
> ./configure --prefix=/usr/local
> make
> make install
>
> I don't know what you mean by making Portage recognize the software
> installed this way. Do you want Portage to be able to uninstall and/or
> upgrade this software? If so, the simple answer is you it can't do
> that. You have to manage the software outside of Portage yourself.

Additionally, I like to have the stuff separated in sub-directories 
of /usr/local, and use stow or better xstow to create symlinks, so the 
software appears to be installed directly in /usr/local.

  emerge xstow
  mkdir /usr/local/stow
  ./configure --prefix=/usr/local/stow/foo-1.2.3 && make && make install
  cd /usr/local/stow
  xstow foo-1.2.3

To later uninstall, without the need to use "make uninstall":
  cd /usr/local/stow
  xstow -D foo-1.2.3
  \rm -r foo-1.2.3

Or to try out a newer version of foo, without deleting foo-1.2.3:
  ./configure --prefix=/usr/local/stow/foo-1.2.4 && make && make install
  cd /usr/local/stow
  xstow -D foo-1.2.3
  xstow foo-1.2.4
  
	Alex
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