opt directory

In article <2007081915052316807-null@unixsite>,
Titus Pullo <null.TakeThisOut@unix.site> wrote:

> I keep finding an 'opt' directory with Applications, Library, System
> and Users at the root level of my hard drive. It contains a bunch of
> UNIX directories. "Macports" is a filename that appears a lot. Does
> anyone know where this directory comes from? I keep deleting it but
> every so often it reappears.

As others have noted, the /opt/ directory is generally associated with
MacPorts. If you didn't install it then something may be doing so.

The next time it appears, try running Terminal (located in the Utilities
folder). Type this and press return:

/opt/local/bin/port installed

If this _is_ something installing MacPorts for you, that will list
everything from MacPorts that's been installed. Post the list here and
people may be able to make a better guess at how it got there.

--
Tom "Tom" Harrington
MondoMouse makes your mouse mightier
See http://www.atomicbird.com/mondomouse/

In article <2007081915052316807-null@unixsite>,
Titus Pullo <null DeleteThis @unix.site> wrote:

> I keep finding an 'opt' directory with Applications, Library, System
> and Users at the root level of my hard drive. It contains a bunch of
> UNIX directories. "Macports" is a filename that appears a lot. Does
> anyone know where this directory comes from? I keep deleting it but
> every so often it reappears.

Are you using MacPorts.org stuff?

Did you download anything from the internet and install it? And
use it regularly? It is possible that this software is fetching
needed resources from MacPorts.org.

Does anyone else have an account on your system? Have they been
using MacPorts.org?

Do you suspect someone of sneaking into your system via ssh or
using it while you are away, and using MacPorts.org?

What are the names of the files in /opt? Maybe that will give a
clue as to what is being done by these apps.

Bob Harris

On 2007-08-19 16:42:04 -0700, Bob Harris
<nospam.News.Bob DeleteThis @remove.Smith-Harris.us> said:

> In article <2007081915052316807-null@unixsite>,
> Titus Pullo <null DeleteThis @unix.site> wrote:
>
>> I keep finding an 'opt' directory with Applications, Library, System
>> and Users at the root level of my hard drive. It contains a bunch of
>> UNIX directories. "Macports" is a filename that appears a lot. Does
>> anyone know where this directory comes from? I keep deleting it but
>> every so often it reappears.
>
> Are you using MacPorts.org stuff?
>
> Did you download anything from the internet and install it? And
> use it regularly? It is possible that this software is fetching
> needed resources from MacPorts.org.
>
> Does anyone else have an account on your system? Have they been
> using MacPorts.org?
>
> Do you suspect someone of sneaking into your system via ssh or
> using it while you are away, and using MacPorts.org?
>
> What are the names of the files in /opt? Maybe that will give a
> clue as to what is being done by these apps.
>
>

I never downloaded anything from Macports.org. Could it be iFuntastic?
That is the last piece of software I downloaded. Couldn't be Netscape
9. I cant think of anything else I downloaded and installed recently.
Could it be something that I am running under X11 like the Gimp or
Stellarium?

In article <2007081917461116807-null@unixsite>,
Titus Pullo <null.TakeThisOut@unix.site> wrote:

> On 2007-08-19 16:42:04 -0700, Bob Harris
> <nospam.News.Bob.TakeThisOut@remove.Smith-Harris.us> said:
>
> > In article <2007081915052316807-null@unixsite>,
> > Titus Pullo <null.TakeThisOut@unix.site> wrote:
> >
> >> I keep finding an 'opt' directory with Applications, Library, System
> >> and Users at the root level of my hard drive. It contains a bunch of
> >> UNIX directories. "Macports" is a filename that appears a lot. Does
> >> anyone know where this directory comes from? I keep deleting it but
> >> every so often it reappears.
> >
> > Are you using MacPorts.org stuff?
> >
> > Did you download anything from the internet and install it? And
> > use it regularly? It is possible that this software is fetching
> > needed resources from MacPorts.org.
> >
> > Does anyone else have an account on your system? Have they been
> > using MacPorts.org?
> >
> > Do you suspect someone of sneaking into your system via ssh or
> > using it while you are away, and using MacPorts.org?
> >
> > What are the names of the files in /opt? Maybe that will give a
> > clue as to what is being done by these apps.
> >
> >
>
> I never downloaded anything from Macports.org. Could it be iFuntastic?
> That is the last piece of software I downloaded. Couldn't be Netscape
> 9. I cant think of anything else I downloaded and installed recently.
> Could it be something that I am running under X11 like the Gimp or
> Stellarium?

Gimp is listed as something MacPorts has available, but that only
means you can get it from MacPorts, it does not mean that Gimp
will fetch stuff when running from MacPorts, especially if you
have removed them and the show up again.

iFuntastic could be doing anything. If I understand it correctly,
it aids in getting ring tones onto an iPhone.

Stellarium is OpenSource, but since it is multi-platform, it is
unlikely to be getting stuff from a Mac specific web site.

Again, the stuff found in /opt might give a clue as to what kind
of app fetched them.

You could clean out each suspected app, cleaning out /opt between
each command to see if any of them populate new /opt entries.

You could get "Little Snitch" and watch for which apps attempt to
connect to the MacPorts web site.

You could look at the total amount of space being used by /opt

du -sxh /opt

and if it is not too much space, just ignore it and allow the app
that is populating it alone (unless of course you suspect foul
play).

Bob Harris

On 2007-08-19 19:23:33 -0700, Bob Harris
<nospam.News.Bob.TakeThisOut@remove.Smith-Harris.us> said:

> Gimp is listed as something MacPorts has available, but that only
> means you can get it from MacPorts, it does not mean that Gimp
> will fetch stuff when running from MacPorts, especially if you
> have removed them and the show up again.
>
> iFuntastic could be doing anything. If I understand it correctly,
> it aids in getting ring tones onto an iPhone.
>
> Stellarium is OpenSource, but since it is multi-platform, it is
> unlikely to be getting stuff from a Mac specific web site.
>
> Again, the stuff found in /opt might give a clue as to what kind
> of app fetched them.
>
> You could clean out each suspected app, cleaning out /opt between
> each command to see if any of them populate new /opt entries.
>
> You could get "Little Snitch" and watch for which apps attempt to
> connect to the MacPorts web site.
>
> You could look at the total amount of space being used by /opt
>
> du -sxh /opt
>
> and if it is not too much space, just ignore it and allow the app
> that is populating it alone (unless of course you suspect foul
> play).
>
> Bob Harris

I just deleted the directory and launched iFuntastic. It didn't
recreate the opt directory. I will watch for it over the next few days
and see if it pops up again, and why. I like to know where stuff comes
from that ends up in my computer.

Titus Pullo wrote:
> On 2007-08-19 19:23:33 -0700, Bob Harris
> <nospam.News.Bob DeleteThis @remove.Smith-Harris.us> said:
>
>> Gimp is listed as something MacPorts has available, but that only
>> means you can get it from MacPorts, it does not mean that Gimp
>> will fetch stuff when running from MacPorts, especially if you
>> have removed them and the show up again.
>>
>> iFuntastic could be doing anything. If I understand it correctly,
>> it aids in getting ring tones onto an iPhone.
>>
>> Stellarium is OpenSource, but since it is multi-platform, it is
>> unlikely to be getting stuff from a Mac specific web site.
>>
>> Again, the stuff found in /opt might give a clue as to what kind
>> of app fetched them.
>>
>> You could clean out each suspected app, cleaning out /opt between
>> each command to see if any of them populate new /opt entries.
>>
>> You could get "Little Snitch" and watch for which apps attempt to
>> connect to the MacPorts web site.
>>
>> You could look at the total amount of space being used by /opt
>>
>> du -sxh /opt
>>
>> and if it is not too much space, just ignore it and allow the app
>> that is populating it alone (unless of course you suspect foul
>> play).
>>
> I just deleted the directory and launched iFuntastic. It didn't recreate
> the opt directory. I will watch for it over the next few days and see if
> it pops up again, and why. I like to know where stuff comes from that
> ends up in my computer.
>
Something was installed that looks for traditional Unix filesystems
locations.

"/opt" is traditionally a place to put optional or third-party
applications that do not fit in the typical /usr/local. Technically, it
is for add-on packages that contain static files, that other parts of
the system will never be interested in.

The fact that it keeps being recreated means:

1. You keep launching something that expects it to be there. The Gimp
is a good guess, but this depends on how the deliverable was configured
and compiled.

2. You have a long running process that launches itself on startup which
needs to use /opt for some reason.

I suspect it is (1), because (2) implies some sort of daemon process
which typically does not run out of /opt, or need to access anything there.

The fact that you recognize macports stuff in there suggests that, at
some point, macports was used to install third-party apps ported to an
OS X or Darwin environment. That this might need to access /opt (or
some other location that the Finder knows to ignore) is not surprising.

Either spend some time finding out which app from macports is doing
this, and remove it if you don't use it, or just ignore it because it
seems like business as usual to me.

I mean, if programs accessing /opt are scaring you, then /please/ do not
go into your home directory via the Terminal and type "ls -aF"...
--
clvrmnky <mailto:spamtrap@clevermonkey.org>

Direct replies will be blacklisted. Replace "spamtrap" with my name to
contact me directly.

Titus Pullo wrote:
> I keep finding an 'opt' directory with Applications, Library, System and
> Users at the root level of my hard drive. It contains a bunch of UNIX
> directories. "Macports" is a filename that appears a lot. Does anyone
> know where this directory comes from? I keep deleting it but every so
> often it reappears.

/opt is an old Unix/Linux place to store 'additional software, optional
and not necessary for the running of the operating system'

Its highly likely its a default place for X11 stuff to get installed.

Ive got gimp running under MAC X11 tho, and no /opt at all..so its
probably some other stuff that has created it.

On Mon, 20 Aug 2007 16:00:03 +0100, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
> Titus Pullo wrote:
>> I keep finding an 'opt' directory with Applications, Library, System and
>> Users at the root level of my hard drive. It contains a bunch of UNIX
>> directories. "Macports" is a filename that appears a lot. Does anyone
>> know where this directory comes from? I keep deleting it but every so
>> often it reappears.

> /opt is an old Unix/Linux place to store 'additional software, optional
> and not necessary for the running of the operating system'

> Its highly likely its a default place for X11 stuff to get installed.

> Ive got gimp running under MAC X11 tho, and no /opt at all..so its
> probably some other stuff that has created it.

Gmp is available through MacPorts. If you choose to install gmp via
MacPorts, then by default it will be installed in /opt.

I chose instead to install gmp via fink. Therefore, it's installed under
/sw, even though /sw is not necessary for the running of the operating
system. In fact, /sw was chosen for fink installations for precisely
that reason.


--
Dave Seaman
Oral Arguments in Mumia Abu-Jamal Case heard May 17
U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit
<http://www.abu-jamal-news.com/>

On 2007-08-20 19:28:35 +0300, Dave Seaman <dseaman.DeleteThis@no.such.host> said:

> On Mon, 20 Aug 2007 16:00:03 +0100, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>> Titus Pullo wrote:
>>> I keep finding an 'opt' directory with Applications, Library, System and
>>> Users at the root level of my hard drive. It contains a bunch of UNIX
>>> directories. "Macports" is a filename that appears a lot. Does anyone
>>> know where this directory comes from? I keep deleting it but every so
>>> often it reappears.
>
>> /opt is an old Unix/Linux place to store 'additional software, optional
>> and not necessary for the running of the operating system'
>
>> Its highly likely its a default place for X11 stuff to get installed.
>
>> Ive got gimp running under MAC X11 tho, and no /opt at all..so its
>> probably some other stuff that has created it.
>
> Gmp is available through MacPorts. If you choose to install gmp via
> MacPorts, then by default it will be installed in /opt.
>
> I chose instead to install gmp via fink. Therefore, it's installed under
> /sw, even though /sw is not necessary for the running of the operating
> system. In fact, /sw was chosen for fink installations for precisely
> that reason.

As far as I know, both Macports and Fink have very strict policies
against installing nothing without users permission. In fact, it is one
of the reasons why they choose /opt and /sw living all that
configuration hassle,they want something can be removed even via Finder
"'drag to trash".

I don't think anything from them would be installed without asking the
user at least 2-3 questions and "I agree" stuff.

Very interesting stuff, I suggest going to irc.freenode.net with an IRC
client and check with #macports official channel if it appears back.

Ilgaz