The FSSTND says:
``The /usr/local hierarchy is for use by the system administrator when installing software locally. It needs to be safe from being overwritten when the system software is updated. It may be used for programs and data that are shareable amongst a group of machines, but not found in /usr.''
The /usr/local directory is similar in structure to the /usr directory. It has the following subdirectories, which are similar in purpose to those in the /usr directory:
/usr/local
|- bin
|- doc
|- etc
|- games
|- include
|- info
|- lib
|- man
|- sbin
+- src