I am a bit new to linux, or at least Ubuntu specifically (I've tried others such as tails, but that was mostly for web browsing), and have been thinking about migrating to it from windows. Things have been going well so far, except for one problem: On windows, I usually keep my apps and other things organized into specific files\custom install locations to make them easier to access and manage. so for example, firefox, thunderbird, etc would be installed in "E:\myusername\apps" (I have them installed on a separate hard drive) or sometimes other apps like virtualbox would go in "E:\myusername\Virtualization\Apps" and so on.
But despite reading other questions like What is the Linux equivalent to Windows' Program Files? and How to understand the Ubuntu file system layout? to get somewhat of an understanding of how linux's file system works and other questions that are (at least kind of) similar to mine such as Install package to specific location and Install chrome to a specific location, none of them seem to answer my specific problem. Is there a way to organize linux apps into a specific folder? If not, is there any other way to make it easier to access and manage linux apps?
Sorry if my question is incredibly basic, but it's been somewhat of a frustration for me in terms of migrating, especially when I have things like apps arranged specifically and I just want to save myself a headache of browsing through multiple directories if I want to configure or tinker with an app. Like for example, WINE will install in /opt/ while gparted will install in (I think) /usr/share and /usr/bin, but neither in one particular location.
edit: fixed links