Open specific software version from terminal

Question

On my pc I have 2 versions of the same software (Blender 2.79 and 2.80) installed, and I need both of them. For debugging purposed I need to launch Blender 2.80 from terminal, so that I can see all the executed functions and the print() outputs, but when I type "blender" it opens the 2.79 version.

I probably need to add that I downloaded Blender 2.80 as a portable package (.zip file), because I didn't want to overwrite the 2.79 install.

How can I open Blender 2.80 from terminal?

EDIT

As explained in the comments, it's possible to to run the 2.8 version by running the executable, but that would require typing the path every time, which is kind of a bummer.

A possible solution is a script, I guess, but is there a way to create a custom command in the terminal (like blender2.80), or any other way to open it with a short line?

Answer 1

One solution (there are likely many).

Create a link and use a different command for the later version. Because I don't know where you have Blender 2.80 located (directory), I'll use the command ls as an example.

guiverc@d960-ubu2:/de2900/lubuntu_64$   sudo ln -s /bin/ls /usr/local/bin/blah

In this example, I've created a link (soft) for the command ls and put it in /usr/local/bin calling it blah. So when I type blah now, it'll run ls.

Replace /bin/ls with the location of your Blender 2.80 binary, and replace blah with whatever you think is appropriate (and ideally not used by something else, ie. whereis blah might be worthwhile to check the command isn't already used).

guiverc@d960-ubu2:/de2900/lubuntu_64$   blah
bionic  eoan-desktop-amd64.iso         eoan-desktop-amd64.iso.zsync      kde_neon     qatracker.py   rcksum-Nkzfe5   zsync_eoan.sh
blah    eoan-desktop-amd64.iso.zs-old  eoan-desktop-amd64.iso.zsync.old  qa_query.py  rcksum-BvAetb  zsync_disco.sh

/usr/local/bin/ could also be ~/bin/ if it's set up and in your $PATH. It's a directory available for all users, so if you have other users on your system, they'll also be able to run it (if they have access to wherever it's located)

PS: alias is possibly a better alternative.