From owner-freebsd-current  Sun Feb 20 13:51:42 2000
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To: obrien@FreeBSD.ORG
Cc: Matthew Dillon <dillon@apollo.backplane.com>,
	freebsd-current@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject: Re: Installing linux_base 6.1 
In-reply-to: Your message of "Sun, 20 Feb 2000 13:35:12 PST."
             <20000220133512.I14682@dragon.nuxi.com> 
Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 13:47:30 -0800
Message-ID: <14945.951083250@zippy.cdrom.com>
From: "Jordan K. Hubbard" <jkh@zippy.cdrom.com>
Sender: owner-freebsd-current@FreeBSD.ORG
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> The /compat symlink should just die.  compat bits should not be on the
> root partition, so why are we pretending?  /usr/compat should be the only
> supported place.  Peroid.

You miss the point entirely.  Compat bits aren't intended for the root
partition, they're intended for wherever you happen to have enough
space for all that crap (and it can get quite large if you're "compat"
with a number of different systems).  For some people that's /usr.
For others that's anywhere but since /usr is a comparatively small,
read-only partition which they share amongst multiple boxes and they
want the compat stuff to go in /usr/local/share/compat or something.
The symlink gives you that flexibility and the fact that sysinstall
points it at /usr/compat is simply a quick shortcut.  It should
probably *ask* where you want it to point, in fact, and I've just been
too lazy to add that question to sysinstall.

I should also point out that making it a non-symlink would also
completely break the linux_base port (for one) on those systems where
/usr (and hence /usr/compat) is a read-only volume.  Ports aren't even
technically supposed to touch anything outside of /usr/local,
/usr/X11R6 and (on rare occasion) /etc/shells, and with a compat
symlink you can still make sure they don't.

- Jordan

P.S. /usr/local/etc/shells anyone? :)


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