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I have 12.10 installed, and I was searching for Transmission one day in the apps lens. It didn't show up, and I was confused; I began searching more in the lens and realized no apps were showing up. As an alternative, I began using the terminal. But since this isn't a real option, and I was confused by the title of the programs (I din't even know it was chromium-browser instead of just chromium!).
After this, I decided to search for the programs, and where they were installed - so I could execute them that way. Checking this chapter on the Heirarchy of the Linux Filesystem, I found that the /opt directory was most suitable after reading the description.

However, the results of my exploration were not as I had hoped. I navigated to the filesystem and opened the /opt directory. I was surprised to see there was nothing in the folder. No other folders, no files, nothing. I confirmed that I was allowed to access the file in there, and had sure to check for hidden files and folders.

I can open any applications when I run the command in a Terminal, and I have been pining them for easy access. They open as normal.

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You will find that most packages installed after installation by the package managers will reside in /usr/bin/ or /usr/sbin/ Ive always thought as /opt/ as a place for applications not installed by package managers or "propitiatory" software.

If you want to find where a program lives in the filesystem you can use the which command:

stephenm@mcr-pc-29392:~$ which chromium-browser 
/usr/bin/chromium-browser

And for the unity app lens problem:

Try removing and installing the application lens again:

sudo apt-get remove unity-lens-applications

sudo apt-get install unity-lens-applications
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    Thanks for your answer! I was able to discover that /usr/bin was a more suitable place - but I didn't find out why, so I'm really happy with your answer! :)
    – Mochan
    Jan 12, 2013 at 0:55

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