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To: Nate Williams <nate@mt.sri.com>
Subject: Re: install on {Net,Open}BSD vs install on FreeBSD 
Cc: current@freebsd.org
In-reply-to: Your message of "Tue, 24 Sep 1996 09:37:19 MDT."
		<199609241537.JAA06948@rocky.mt.sri.com> 
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Date: Tue, 24 Sep 1996 10:07:14 -0600
From: Warner Losh <imp@village.org>
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In message <199609241537.JAA06948@rocky.mt.sri.com> Nate Williams writes:
: Since the FreeBSD source tree has no need for it (we have a good
: solution), and the functionality is available for folks that need it in
: our 'provided' sources (GNU-install), then there is no need to 'pollute'
: our tree with software that encourages bad practice.

Generally you are correct, but specifically you aren't.  Sure there
are better ways of doing this.  However, other widely installed
systems have this stuff in place.  Other software is using this, good
bad or ugly.  Other software is using gets, and it is still around.  I
find the "it could be abused" arguement weak at best.  rm -rf can be
abused, but it has its uses and its place.

Taken to an extreme, I'm sure there are many programs whose existance
is questionable at best.  Do we really need chat, talk and write?
Cases can be made for each of them, but isn't there a lot of overlap?
Or look at gotos in 'c'.  Why not eliminate them because they are
generally (but not always) bad practice?  While install -d does
overlap and encourage a slightly bad practice, there are times that I
don't care if the permissions/owners are slightly wrong.

Maybe I'm blind.  I can't find gnu install anywhere in the system or
in the ports.  I can't find gnu's textutils, diff utils or anything
named *inst* in the ports tree.  Neither is there anything in the
/usr/contrib tree to make me think gnu install is there.  Therefore,
it appears that this functionality isn't part of the system.

While it does encourage a mildly bad programming habit, NetBSD does
include it.  It is a needless difference between the two systems and
should be corrected, imho.  It accomplishes the greater goal of
converging the divergent BSD branches a tiny bit, which is also a
generally good thing, imho.

Warner