From 89a7a2b430c56b2106a736fbeb1d94efea4be40f Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Martin Belanger <martin.belanger@dell.com>
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 2026 09:58:39 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] doc: document default installation paths and how to override
 them

The meson defaults (prefix=/usr/local, sysconfdir=etc) cause files to
be installed under /usr/local rather than the standard system locations,
which often confuses users expecting /usr/bin, /usr/lib, /etc.

Add an "Installation paths" subsection explaining the defaults and
showing how to configure meson for a distro-style install:

  meson setup .build --prefix /usr --sysconfdir /etc

Signed-off-by: Martin Belanger <martin.belanger@dell.com>
---
 README.md | 26 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 26 insertions(+)

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 3b852c9ab8..1a587ab57f 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -77,6 +77,32 @@ $ meson compile -C .build
 # meson install -C .build
 ```
 
+#### Installation paths
+
+By default, meson installs everything under `/usr/local` (executables in
+`/usr/local/bin`, libraries in `/usr/local/lib`, configuration in
+`/usr/local/etc`, etc.). This is controlled by two meson built-in options
+whose defaults are set in `meson.build`:
+
+| Option | Default |
+|--------|---------|
+| `--prefix` | `/usr/local` |
+| `--sysconfdir` | `etc` (relative to prefix → `/usr/local/etc`) |
+
+To install into the standard system locations that a Linux distribution would
+use (`/usr/bin`, `/usr/lib`, `/etc`, …), pass these options at configure time:
+
+```shell
+$ meson setup .build --prefix /usr --sysconfdir /etc
+```
+
+Optionally add `--buildtype release` to disable debug symbols and enable
+optimizations for a production install:
+
+```shell
+$ meson setup .build --prefix /usr --sysconfdir /etc --buildtype release
+```
+
 ### Build with build.sh wrapper
 
 The `scripts/build.sh` is used for the CI build but can also be used for