scripts

Fwiw it's worth learning how to use the excellent Debian Alternatives [1] system to install stuff not in the repo's. Download the precompiled binary, or download the source and compile it, put in $HOME, /opt, or wherever you want, then use update-alternatives to soft link it into the standard system directories (/usr, /usr/bin, /usr/local, etc). You can manage and toggle between multiple versions of the same software that way, including the repo version, and lots more benefits, see github readme below. Intro: https://www.debian-administration.org/article/91/Using_the_D... Example setup scripts: https://github.com/byrongibson/scripts/tree/master/install/h... [1]:https://wiki.debian.org/DebianAlternatives

Another alternative is just bypass the Deb repo's altogether and install from source, but do so using the awesome Debian Alternatives tool [1] so as not to drop a bunch of unmanaged files into /usr/bin, /usr/local/bin, etc. Takes some setup work, but very powerful and useful after you get it working. Example scripts: https://github.com/byrongibson/scripts/tree/master/install/h... https://github.com/byrongibson/scripts/tree/master/install/j... https://github.com/byrongibson/scripts/tree/master/install/s... Can do similarly with any other package. Download and compile the source to --prefix=/opt/name/version, look at the /opt structure (it will mirror /usr/bin, /usr/local/bin/, /usr/share/man) and script the update-alternatives command correspondingly. Tons of benefits, among them being better post-install startup control, but also you c

Since you're on Debian and are already putting it in /opt, try the Debian Alternatives tool [1], it's great for managing multiple versions of software you don't install from Deb repos. It lets you put multiple versions of the same program in /opt or anywhere else (say, /opt/firefox/25, /opt/firefox/26, etc) and config one of them to be the system version (soft links all the bins and man into /usr/bin, /usr/local/bin, /usr/share/man, etc), then swap between versions, rollback if there's a problem, etc as necessary with a single command: `update-alternatives --config firefox`. It works very similarly to those Ruby version managers, RVM and RBENV, by holding multiple versions somewhere out of the way and soft-linking the chosen one into the system folders. So similar in fact, that the Debian repo RBENV package has been rewritten to use Deb

Since you're on Debian you can use the awesome Update Alternatives to install Haskell, which is an even better way in my opinion: https://github.com/byrongibson/scripts/blob/master/install/h... Tons of advantages to doing it that way, including the ability to easily maintain multiple versions of both GHC and Platform on the same system and swap between them with a single command. Also doesn't clutter up /usr/local/ with binaries not managed by apt or dpkg. More generally, update-alternatives is a godsend for Stable users. It's like RVM or RBENV in the Ruby world - lets you install and manage multiple versions of the same platform and easily swap between them with a single command, including the system version from repos if you want. It frees you from out of date software in the repos while still providing a system to manage the complex

Fwiw it installs beautifully on Debian-based systems using the Debian Alternatives system: https://github.com/byrongibson/scripts/tree/master/install/h... This lets you install multiple versions, of both Platform and standalone GHC, and swap the active one with a single command. Those scripts are for a prior version, but works the same, just update the versions.

Ditto everything. I also use gnome-do launcher and vim keybindings for everything, making my UI 95% keyboard driven and whatever the window manager is irrevelant. Unity? Gnome3? Mate? Etc. Couldn't care less, all the same to me. >private package archives Personal Package Archives [1] actually, but another good point. Between the Debian and Ubuntu repos, Ubuntu PPAs, and the awesome Debian tool Update Alternatives [2], I can install any piece of software, packaged or not, and even multiple versions simultaneously and change the active version with a single command line command [3]. I don't know if the Red Hat or Open Suse ecosystem has something like this, but I'd have a hard time switching to something else without an equivalent. [1]: https://help.launchpad.net/Packaging/PPA [2]: http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/debian-faq/

One of the things I love about the Debian ecosystem is that there's a tool that's even better than what this post recommends. Debian update-alternatives, available on any Debian-derived distro. update-alternatives allows you to compile or unzip software to somewhere obscure and safe, like /opt, then soft-link it to /usr/local with update-alternatives --install. The benefits: 1. You can slave all dependencies to the main binary, so that they can all be removed with update-alternatives --remove. 2. You can install multiple versions simultaneously (including the system version), flag one as active, and toggle between them easily with update-alternatives --config. 3. #2 lets you upgrade to a new version (say of Java, Scala, Haskell, whatever) without uninstalling or overwriting the current version, and if the new version breaks your app

For anyone using Debian or a derivative and who wants to build from source and/or install without using the package manager, here's one way using Debian update-alternatives tool: https://github.com/byrongibson/scripts/tree/master/install/h... TLDR: Install GHC (binary) to a custom location like /opt/haskell/ghc, then add it to the system with the Debian update-alternatives tool, repeat with Haskell Platform. Only difference is you build Platform from source. update-alternatives scripts included for both.

Speaking of git submodule rm, here's a basic script I use for that [1], based on Stackoverflow's answer [2]. 1. https://github.com/byrongibson/scripts/blob/master/git-rm-su... 2. http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1260748/how-do-i-remove-a...