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How to install apps in other locations?

So just got my computer switched over to Pop! OS.

When I open the Pop Shop, the installers don't give me an option to change the location of the app installs. I have 4 disks, 2 nvmes, 2 hard disks. I would prefer to install some of my apps to the 2nd nvme, which I have mounted to /Apps. Mainly the games I will play, along with Stream and Lutris.

Would I need to install from the terminal with apt or nala? I installed nala because it looks cleaner, but we'll see.

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8 comments
  • Honestly, it's probably not worth the hassle to try to install system apps elsewhere. Steam and Lutris, on the other hand, can put games on any mounted drive. Install them as normal, and then in Steam, set up a steam library in /Apps. In Lutris, you should have the option to choose where each game is installed each time you install one.

    • Thanks!

      • Agree with Frozen here. Outside of AppImages which can go where ever (I usually do /opt) I would let most things install where they default to. I installed steam directly from their repo (not s76/ubuntu/debug repo) And had no issues. I have an additional drive in that has a specific mount point in my home dir and games install there. Sounds like you may be new to Linux? It takes a bit to get used to the different mindset of Linux but I’ve found over the years that backing up my apps isn’t really as big of a deal in Linux, especially these days with flatpak and snaps and appimages, etc. I’d be more worried about storing media (photos, videos, music, etc) in its own drive or partition. if you are new to Linux and I’m not projecting here, you should think about joining the PopOS Mattermost. A lot of good folks there always willing to help.

  • I found a comment on another website that said you have to install Steam/Lutris from the PopOS Deb package and not the flatpak. I know they were installed by flatbak from the Pop OS store. So uninstalled and reinstalled as the Deb package and I can know swap the install directory for games to another drive. One more step down in my Linux switch.

  • You can install any app anywhere by hand. Download binaries, put them anywhere you want for example home/.local/bin and add that location to your PATH. Most package managers install apps system-wide ie somewhere in root.

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