When to use /Users/m/bin instead of /usr/local/bin (& whats the diff?)? Post: 302530396

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Operating Systems OS X (Apple) When to use /Users/m/bin instead of /usr/local/bin (& whats the diff?)? Post 302530396 by michellepace on Tuesday 14th of June 2011 01:33:40 AM

06-14-2011

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When to use /Users/m/bin instead of /usr/local/bin (& whats the diff?)?

Q1. I understand that /usr/local/bin means I can install/uninstall stuff in here and have any chance of messing up my original system files or effecting any other users. I created this directory myself.

But what about the directory I didn't create, namely /Users/m/bin? How is that directory different and when should I use one over the other?

Code:

mbp:~ m$ ls /usr/local/bin
brew               createuser         ecpg                git-shell          initdb             pg_controldata      pg_resetxlog       pgbench            reindexdb          vacuumlo
clusterdb          dropdb             git                 git-upload-archive oid2name           pg_ctl             pg_restore          postgres           uuid
createdb           droplang           git-cvsserver      git-upload-pack     pg_archivecleanup  pg_dump            pg_standby         postmaster          uuid-config
createlang         dropuser           git-receive-pack   gitk                pg_config          pg_dumpall         pg_upgrade         psql                vacuumdb
mbp:~ m$ ls /Users/m/bin
mate          rvm           rvm-auto-ruby rvm-exec      rvm-installer rvm-prompt    rvm-shell     rvmsudo

Q2. Since "mate" (ie textmate) is not found when I try execute it, should I amend my .profile file to export PATH=/usr/local/bin:/Users/m/bin:$PATH? ...but in fact this is what got me asking question 1. That is, whats the use of this directory if I already have /usr/local/bin, shouldn't I have all this local bin stuff in one place rather?

Code:

mbp:~ m$ mate
 -bash: mate: command not found
mbp:~ m$ cat ~/.profile 
# NOTE: to reload this file: "source ~/.profile"
export PATH=/usr/local/bin:$PATH

# ALIASES 
ENV=~/.env
export ENV
. $ENV

# Load RVM into your shell sessions as a function (see http://beginrescueend.com/rvm/install/)
[[ -s "$HOME/.rvm/scripts/rvm" ]] && . "$HOME/.rvm/scripts/rvm" # Load RVM function

mbp:~ m$ echo $PATH
/Users/m/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p180/bin:/Users/m/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p180@global/bin:/Users/m/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.2-p180/bin:
/Users/m/.rvm/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/X11/bin

Thanks, Michelle

michellepace

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LEARN ABOUT OSX

xcode-select

XCODE-SELECT(1) 					    BSD General Commands Manual 					   XCODE-SELECT(1)

NAME

       xcode-select - Manages the active developer directory for Xcode and BSD tools.

SYNOPSIS

       xcode-select [-h|--help] [-s|--switch <path>] [-p|--print-path] [-v|--version]

DESCRIPTION

       xcode-select  controls  the location of the developer directory used by xcrun(1), xcodebuild(1), cc(1), and other Xcode and BSD development
       tools. This also controls the locations that are searched for by man(1) for developer tool manpages.

       This allows you to easily switch between different versions of the Xcode tools and can be used to update the path to the  Xcode	if  it	is
       moved after installation.

   Usage
       When  multiple  Xcode  applications  are  installed  on	a system (e.g. /Applications/Xcode.app, containing the latest Xcode, and /Applica-
       tions/Xcode-DP.app containing a developer preview) use xcode-select --switch path/to/Xcode.app to specify the Xcode that you  wish  to  use
       for command line developer tools.

       After  setting  a developer directory, all of the xcode-select provided developer tool shims (see FILES) will automatically invoke the ver-
       sion of the tool inside the selected developer directory. Your own scripts, makefiles, and other tools can  also  use  xcrun(1)	to  easily
       lookup  tools inside the active developer directory, making it easy to switch them between different versions of the Xcode tools and allow-
       ing them to function properly on systems where the Xcode application has been installed to a non-default location.

OPTIONS

       -h, --help
	      Prints the usage message.

       -s <path>, --switch <path>
	      Sets the active developer directory to the given path, for example /Applications/Xcode-DP.app. This command must be run  with  supe-
	      ruser  permissions (see sudo(8)), and will affect all users on the system. To set the path without superuser permissions or only for
	      the current shell session, use the DEVELOPER_DIR environment variable instead (see ENVIRONMENT).

       -p, --print-path
	      Prints the path to the currently selected developer directory. This is useful for inspection, but scripts and other tools should use
	      xcrun(1) to locate tool inside the active developer directory.

       -r, --reset
	      Unsets  any user-specified developer directory, so that the developer directory will be found via the default search mechanism. This
	      command must be run with superuser permissions (see sudo(8)), and will affect all users on the system.

       -v, --version
	      Prints xcode-select version information.

       --install
	      Opens a user interface dialog to request automatic installation of the command line developer tools.

ENVIRONMENT

       DEVELOPER_DIR
	  Overrides the active developer directory. When DEVELOPER_DIR is set, its value will be used instead of the system-wide active  developer
	  directory.

	  Note	that  for historical reason, the developer directory is considered to be the Developer content directory inside the Xcode applica-
	  tion (for example /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer). You can set the environment variable to either the actual Developer  con-
	  tents  directory, or the Xcode application directory -- the xcode-select provided shims will automatically convert the environment vari-
	  able into the full Developer content path.

EXAMPLES

       xcode-select --switch /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer
	  Select /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer as the active developer directory.

       xcode-select --switch /Applications/Xcode.app
	  As above, selects /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer as the active developer directory. The Developer content directory is auto-
	  matically inferred by xcode-select.

       /usr/bin/xcodebuild
	  Runs xcodebuild out of the active developer directory.

       /usr/bin/xcrun --find xcodebuild
	  Use xcrun to locate xcodebuild inside the active developer directory.

       env DEVELOPER_DIR="/Applications/Xcode-DP.app" /usr/bin/xcodebuild
	  Execute xcodebuild using an alternate developer directory.

FILES

       /usr/bin/xcrun
	  Used to find or run arbitrary commands from the active developer directory. See xcrun(1) for more information.

       /usr/bin/agvtool  /usr/bin/desdp  /usr/bin/ibtool  /usr/bin/ictool  /usr/bin/instruments /usr/bin/iprofiler /usr/bin/opendiff /usr/bin/sdef
       /usr/bin/sdp /usr/bin/xcodebuild /usr/bin/xed
	  Runs the matching Xcode tool from with the active developer directory.

       /usr/bin/BuildStrings   /usr/bin/CpMac	/usr/bin/DeRez	 /usr/bin/GetFileInfo	 /usr/bin/MergePef    /usr/bin/MvMac	/usr/bin/ResMerger
       /usr/bin/RezDet	/usr/bin/RezWack /usr/bin/Rez /usr/bin/SetFile /usr/bin/SplitForks /usr/bin/UnRezWack /usr/bin/ar /usr/bin/as /usr/bin/asa
       /usr/bin/bison  /usr/bin/c89  /usr/bin/c99  /usr/bin/clang++  /usr/bin/clang  /usr/bin/cmpdylib	 /usr/bin/codesign_allocate   /usr/bin/cpp
       /usr/bin/ctags /usr/bin/ctf_insert /usr/bin/dsymutil /usr/bin/dwarfdump /usr/bin/flex++ /usr/bin/flex /usr/bin/g++ /usr/bin/gatherheaderdoc
       /usr/bin/gcc    /usr/bin/gcov	/usr/bin/git-cvsserver	  /usr/bin/git-receive-pack	/usr/bin/git-shell     /usr/bin/git-upload-archive
       /usr/bin/git-upload-pack   /usr/bin/git	 /usr/bin/gm4	/usr/bin/gnumake   /usr/bin/gperf   /usr/bin/hdxml2manxml  /usr/bin/headerdoc2html
       /usr/bin/indent	/usr/bin/install_name_tool  /usr/bin/ld  /usr/bin/lex	/usr/bin/libtool   /usr/bin/lipo   /usr/bin/lldb   /usr/bin/lorder
       /usr/bin/m4   /usr/bin/make   /usr/bin/mig   /usr/bin/mkdep   /usr/bin/nasm  /usr/bin/ndisasm  /usr/bin/nm  /usr/bin/nmedit  /usr/bin/otool
       /usr/bin/pagestuff  /usr/bin/ranlib  /usr/bin/rebase  /usr/bin/redo_prebinding	/usr/bin/resolveLinks	/usr/bin/rpcgen   /usr/bin/segedit
       /usr/bin/size  /usr/bin/strings	/usr/bin/strip	/usr/bin/svn  /usr/bin/svnadmin  /usr/bin/svndumpfilter /usr/bin/svnlook /usr/bin/svnserve
       /usr/bin/svnsync /usr/bin/svnversion /usr/bin/unifdef /usr/bin/unifdefall /usr/bin/xml2man /usr/bin/yacc
	  Runs the matching BSD tool from with the active developer directory.

SEE ALSO

       xcrun(1)

HISTORY

       The xcode-select command first appeared in Xcode 3.0.

Mac OS X							   July 30, 2013						   XCODE-SELECT(1)