[RESOLVED] updating PHP: /usr/bin VS /usr/local/bin ?

sneakyimp

So I don't have tons of experience recompiling PHP on *nix systems, but I have managed to do it on my OSX 10.5.8 system. However, doing the whole configure/make/make install results in PHP being installed in /usr/local/bin rather than in /usr/bin. This means it doesn't over write the old php (v4) that was in /usr/bin and I still get the old PHP when I just type "php file.php" from the command line.

From what I've seen, most *nix systems assume /usr/bin for the location of the php executable. What's the difference between the two paths? Is there any way to get the default configure/make/install behavior of the php source to go to /usr/bin instead?

bradgrafelman

sneakyimp wrote:
What's the difference between the two paths?

Best explanation I could find (source):

The /usr tree contains files that are more general, less system
startup/recovery specific. /usr can be a seperate filesystem that
is mounted after boot, so nothing in the /usr tree may be used for
system startup

...

For programs that are not supplied with the distribution, but are compiled
from source on the local machine, the /usr subtree designates a further
/usr/local sub-subtree

I, however, tend to throw everything in /usr instead. shrug

sneakyimp wrote:
Is there any way to get the default configure/make/install behavior of the php source to go to /usr/bin instead?

Of course! When you are doing "./configure", you're preparing the installation and you have a lot of control at that point. The standard way to change a program's destination (e.g. to "/usr/<dir>" instead of "/usr/local/<dir>") is to change the prefix from /usr/local to /usr by appending "--prefix=/usr" to the "./configure" command.

EDIT: Also note that there are other options, such as adding a symlink to /usr/local/bin/php at /usr/bin/php or simply adding /usr/local/bin to your PATH environment variable.

sneakyimp

Excellent info!

The "nothing in the /usr tree may be be used for system startup" is a bit ambiguous. I imagine apache and php being part of system startup. Perhaps they mean it in a more narrow way - as in linux-only.

Thanks for the tip on ./configure. It appears to be working as planned.

dalecosp

But in 'Nix, /usr/bin is for system binaries, and installed software that's not part of the OS goes in /usr/local/ ... 😉

dalecosp

sneakyimp;10974873 wrote:
Excellent info!

The "nothing in the /usr tree may be be used for system startup" is a bit ambiguous.

Not really. The OS could run without things like Apache, but not things like the kernel and various RC scripts, libraries (system wouldn't get far without libc, for example), the config files in /etc, and perhaps a couple of files in /bin (/bin/stty comes to mind). Keep in mind that in traditional 'Nixen, /usr and /var are seperate partitions, and therefore aren't available until late in the startup process.