scripts

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 It frees you from out of date software in the repos while still providing a system to manage the complex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/