How does one install packages onto a partition other than the active directory?

[Joshamuffin]

How does one install packages onto a partition other than the active directory?

In Windows, it was easy to install things to any directory. However, because of the nature of installation, I do not know how to do the same thing in Linux.

[taurus]

Are they .deb packages?

[maybeway36]

You essentially have to install .deb packages to /usr/bin. Linux has a rigid directory structure, which means you can't install to another partition, unless you really know what you're doing (usually means compiling from source.)