Question about filesystem organisation

[Tortanick]

I've never been able to understand the logic behind the way programs are stored in the file system. I understand why /bin and /sbin are seprate from /usr but why split it into /opt /usr and /usr/local

Could someone explain to me the underlying logic please

[23meg]

http://techrepublic.com.com/5102-10877-5960961.html
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=126107

[Tortanick]

You seem to have missunderstood my question, I know how the file system works, and I know what each part of the tree is used for, I just don't know why /opt even exists, or why /usr contains programs and /usr/local as opposed to /usr containing only /usr/shared & /usr/local

I was asking for the explanations on why this perticular organisational structure was chosen

[az]

Debian (and so ubuntu) does not use /opt or /usr/local. You are not encouraged to use them. However, some esoteric applications may install stuff there, if you compile them from source.

[Tortanick]

Now that makes sense :D