Moving /usr/local to ~/local

Hi everyone!

Is it safe to move the /usr/local directory to ~/local? By "safe" I mean "will not break OSX itself". If some software stops working and needs to be installed again that would be fine. Of course I would also change the PATH environment variable.

I want to have it in my home directory so when I get the new Mac I can just migrate the user (without having to choose "Migrate all other files") and keep my ruby/ffmpeg/... installations.

Any advice would be appreciated

That's nuts. Why would you move it to a new location? Why not just copy it to the same location on the new computer? Connect the two by firewire with the old booted in Target Disk Mode and copy away. Or make a zip file of that folder and contents, store it in your user's Downloads folder, then extract back to the same path on the new computer.

/usr/local is a standard unix location - you cannot just move it around. You will break something if you try and do this.

If it is just for ruby/ffmpeg - why not just install that on the New Mac? Much easier than messing with /usr/local - There are link libraries, headers, and what not that are linked in programs so if you move them - the programs won't be able to find those libraries and includes.

Final Advice - don't do it - you will break something.

Okay thank you, I'm glad I asked before trying.

It would have been nice though, because installing Ruby and Rails can be a pain, especially with MySQL for MAMP etc...but maybe copying over the /usr/local dir will keep it working.

AFAIK, Rails is installed by default (and so is Ruby of course). Why not simply use that version and update it as needed using RubyGems? That would be much easier.