What does "opt" mean (as in the "opt" directory)? Is it an abbreviation?

linux unix directory terminology
John Assymptoth picture John Assymptoth · Sep 29, 2012 · Viewed 190k times · Source

What does "opt" mean (as in the "opt" directory)? I commonly see this directory in Unix systems with development tools inside.

Is it an abbreviation?

Answer

Stephen C picture Stephen C · Sep 29, 2012

In the old days, "/opt" was used by UNIX vendors like AT&T, Sun, DEC and 3rd-party vendors to hold "Option" packages; i.e. packages that you might have paid extra money for. I don't recall seeing "/opt" on Berkeley BSD UNIX. They used "/usr/local" for stuff that you installed yourself.

But of course, the true "meaning" of the different directories has always been somewhat vague. That is arguably a good thing, because if these directories had precise (and rigidly enforced) meanings you'd end up with a proliferation of different directory names.

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