I'm new to Ubuntu and would like to know where I can find the location of program files for programs installed from the Ubuntu Software Center or the Terminal.
16 Answers
Also, if you just need to know where the executable is you can run whereis executable or which executable For instance:
$ whereis firefox
firefox: /usr/bin/firefox /etc/firefox /usr/lib/firefox /usr/share/man/man1/firefox.1.gz
$ which firefox
/usr/bin/firefoxon the command line, you can use dpkg --listfiles packagename. For instance, dpkg --listfiles firefox. If you want to see what files a package contains without installing it, then you can install apt-file and use that.
But you really shouldn't mess with it. There is usually no reason to manually interfere with the contents of a package. All configuration files for normal applications are placed in the users home directory. You don't have savegames in C:\Programfiles\Appname\savegames, for instance. They would be placed in /home/username/.local/share/appname/savegames. That way, if you move your home directory to another machine, it keeps all configurations and user data.
or
dpkg -L banshee
If you do not find the command with whereis or which then maybe it is an alias. Try
aliasand check if the command is in the list.
Use the synaptic-package-manager:
Assuming that we'd like to locate the files of the autotools-dev package, under 'Quick filter' enter autotools to locate it. The autotools-dev package appears automatically. Select it by clicking on it and then press 'Properties'. In the appearing dialog select the tab 'Installed Files'.
2The builtin Bash command, called command is also available:
command [-pVv] command [arguments …]Examples of usage:
$ command -v cat
/bin/cat$ command -V cat
cat is /bin/catWhen the searched command is an alias:
$ command -v ll
alias ll='ls -alF'$ command -V ll
ll is aliased to `ls -alF'
