/usr/local vs. /opt

[Deron Meranda]

On 9/16/05, James Wilkinson <fedora at westexe.demon.co.uk> wrote:
> David Mackintosh wrote:
> Other packages (usually from the commercial world) which like to have
> all their files under one directory can have the directory in /opt.

Generally with /opt-style though you do have a slight separatation
of directories.  You typically have

  /opt
  /etc/opt
  /var/opt

where package "xxx" may have a similary named directory
under each of those.  The general rule is that /opt is read-only.
/etc/opt is for editable site-configuration (stuff that should
survive reboots and not be overwritten on a software reinstall),
and /var/opt is for temporary/transient files that can be deleted
by reboots or overwritten on reinstalls.
-- 
Deron Meranda