GNU Stow

GNU Stow simplifies managing software installed from source or in non-standard locations. Instead of scattering files across your system, Stow lets you keep each package in its own isolated directory tree, then creates symlinks to integrate them into a common location—typically /usr/local.

For example, if you compile a program into ~/stow/myapp with subdirectories like bin/, lib/, and share/, running stow myapp creates symlinks from ~/stow/myapp/bin/myprogram to ~/bin/myprogram, making the program immediately accessible without copying files.

This approach is particularly useful for managing dotfiles, maintaining multiple versions of the same software, or deploying packages across systems. Stow tracks which symlinks it created, so stow -D myapp cleanly removes just those symlinks, leaving your directory structure untouched.