I understand that in Windows as well as Linux and Unix, a program|application|software can be installed in any directory. Also if packages are installed using the distribution's packaging system, it'll place files in the correct location.But at times, a software installation prompts for a path to place files. In case of a Linux distro where is this default place (C:\Program Files or C:\progra~1 equivalent)? Is it different for various distributions? If yes, where would this be for RHEL, Suse and Ubuntu?
What is the Linux equivalent to C:\Program Files?
ubuntu;rhel;software installation;directory structure;suse
The Linux Documentation Project has a description of the Linux filesystem hierarchy where they explain the different folders and their (partly historical) meaning. As xenoterracide already pointed out /bin and /opt are the standard directories which can be compared to Program Files on Windows./bin contains several useful commands that are of use to both the system administrator as well as non-privileged users. It usually contains the shells like bash, csh, etc.... and commonly used commands like cp, mv, rm, cat, ls.(quoted from TLDP)/opt is reserved for all the software and add-on packages that are not part of the default installation. For example, StarOffice, Kylix, Netscape Communicator and WordPerfect packages are normally found here.(quoted from TLDP)