Software installation opinions needed

[dd horsfall x-4622]

Wisdom and/or insight needed.  Disclaimer: although I've worked in the
software development field for 15+ years, I'm (relatively) new (~2 yr)
to the Unix variants.

If this is in one of The Fine Manuals, reference thereto would be
appreciated, but I haven't found it yet.

Is there a "convention" (or even a "standard", who knows) which defines
the difference in content between  /bin, /usr/bin, /usr/local/bin,
/usr/new, /usr/etc, /usr/5bin, /usr/sbin ... and so forth, all the 
combinations that start with / and end with bin or lib?

Context: we are about to release a software product which will include
the usual (for us) stuff: program binary, man pages, example problems, 
installation verification data; for each of these, do we
a) recommend a particular directory for its installation?
b) leave it up to each site/purchaser to figure out for themselves
   what's best for their configuration?
c) Some combination -- recommended location for those who don't want to
   think too hard about it, guidelines for the rest?

Software installation: should we
a) _Move_ the program binary to a place where people expect to find such
   things (i.e., something that's probably already in their $path) ?
b) Recommend adding a new directory to the $path?
c) _Leave_ the binary in a product/version catalog, but build a link to
   it from the "preferred" place in the path?  Hard or soft link?

How many of your third-party (i.e., not vendor-supplied) products fall
into the above categories.  Which do you prefer?  Did someone provide
an installation script (or even document) that would be an
exemplary model for us to follow?  If so, would you send me a copy?

Are there any specific "things" that an install script did that 
particularly annoyed you?  In other words, complete this sentence:
"Whatever you do, DON'T DO THIS..."

Lastly, what else in this area should I know that I don't even know
that I don't know (as compared to the things that I know I don't know)?

( Sidebar: How many of the above directories are local to my site and I 
don't know any better?  Are any of them specific to certain vendors?  Does
the list of "standard" or "conventional" directories vary between
SysV and BSD based systems? )
 
Readers with an opinion in the above areas are invited to reply to the
address in .sig; I can't imagine that a large number of general
net.people have any interest in this...
   The Horse
                                       +    Control Data Corporation      
   Dan Horsfall     +1-612-482-4622    +    4201 Lexington Ave North      
   Internet   ddh at dash.udev.cdc.com    +    Arden Hills MN 55126 USA