mac上的usr / local / src不存在吗？

Question

I am new to computers and using the terminal. Most tutorials I look at for downloading tell me to go to usr/local/src. However, I don't find this on mac. Should I just make a directory called src?

Or is this something specific only to linux users?

If someone could tell me how much difference it makes for this directory to exist or not that would be great. Can I complete my installations in usr/local itself?

Thanks

Answer 1

Using the Finder, you can press Cmd-Shift-G and type /usr to display that folder. The /local folder is there by default, but not its /src subfolder. The Finder, of course, can easily create it for you.

As @cricket_007 mentioned, you need to be certain of what you're doing in this area of the system — that's why OS X doesn't display those folders by default. If you understand the risk and want to see everything in the Finder, you can issue the following Terminal command:

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles YES

... then type:

killall Finder

and it will look like this. The hidden folders have a slightly faded appearance, but you can navigate into them as desired:

Alternatively (for High Sierra and above)

You may simply use the key combination: " Cmd Shift > " to toggle on and off hidden file display.

Answer 2

It depends what you are doing. If you're messing about just create one in your home directory:

$ cd ~
$ mkdir src

If you building stuff via configure etc., and you want to install it into /usr/local (the default install prefix), then just do this:

$ cd ~/src/packagename
$ ./configure ... options ...
$ make
$ sudo make install