refactor: Enhance installation script with custom destination and update documentation

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -55,6 +55,23 @@ pixi run test-all-fast
 pixi run install # only works on unix systems as on windows you can't overwrite the binary while it's running
 ```
 
+### Installing the target binaries to a custom location
+
+Use the pixi task `install-as` which invokes a python script to build the project and copy the executable to a custom location.
+```shell
+$ pixi run install-as
+usage: install.py [-h] [--dest DEST] name
+
+Build pixi and copy the executable to ~/.pixi/bin or a custom destination
+
+positional arguments:
+  name                  Name of the executable (e.g. pixid)
+
+options:
+  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
+  --dest DEST           Destination directory for the executable, default: $PIXI_HOME/bin (or ~/.pixi/bin if $PIXI_HOME isn't set)
+```
+
 ## Get your code ready for a PR
 We use [`pre-commit`](https://pre-commit.com/) to run all the formatters and linters that we use.
 If you have `pre-commit` installed on your system you can run `pre-commit install` to run the tools before you commit or push.

scripts/install.py

@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@
 import platform
 import os
 
+DEFAULT_DESTINATION_DIR = Path(os.getenv("PIXI_HOME", Path.home() / ".pixi")) / "bin"
+
 
 def executable_extension(name: str) -> str:
     if platform.system() == "Windows":
@@ -14,22 +16,27 @@ def executable_extension(name: str) -> str:
 
 def main() -> None:
     parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
-        description="Build pixi and copy the executable to ~/.pixi/bin/"
+        description=f"Build pixi and copy the executable to {DEFAULT_DESTINATION_DIR} or a custom destination specified by --dest"
     )
     parser.add_argument("name", type=str, help="Name of the executable (e.g. pixid)")
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--dest",
+        type=Path,
+        default=DEFAULT_DESTINATION_DIR,
+        help=f"Destination directory for the executable, default: {DEFAULT_DESTINATION_DIR}",
+    )
 
     args = parser.parse_args()
 
     built_executable_path = Path(os.environ["CARGO_TARGET_DIR"]).joinpath(
         "release", executable_extension("pixi")
     )
-    destination_path = Path.home().joinpath(".pixi", "bin", executable_extension(args.name))
+    destination_path = args.dest.joinpath(executable_extension(args.name))
 
     print(f"Copying the executable to {destination_path}")
+    destination_path.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
     shutil.copy(built_executable_path, destination_path)
 
-    print("Done!")
-
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     main()