Date: Fri, 30 Aug 1996 10:53:14 -0400 (EDT) From: Chuck Robey <chuckr@glue.umd.edu> To: John Fieber <jfieber@indiana.edu> Cc: Satoshi Asami <asami@FreeBSD.ORG>, jkh@time.cdrom.com, freebsd-ports@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Should this port go in ? Message-ID: <Pine.OSF.3.95.960830105001.19949A-100000@baud.eng.umd.edu> In-Reply-To: <Pine.BSI.3.95.960830085948.5578P-100000@fallout.campusview.indiana.edu>
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On Fri, 30 Aug 1996, John Fieber wrote: > On Thu, 29 Aug 1996, Chuck Robey wrote: > > > I thought about adding some cpp structure to a PLIST, specifically the > > ability to do defines and ifdefs. This would allow the PLIST to change > > dynamically, depending on variables that existed at the time of package > > creation. On unpacking, though, the variables could be different than > > when the package was created. > > Just the other day, as I was dealing with a PLIST that didn't > match what actually got installed, I was thinking that there is > something fundamentally wrong with the system. > > The idea I had was to modify install to (optionally) log > installations. The logging could be controlled either through > command line options or environment variables. Obvious things to > log would be the file and a tag (port name), but things like the > user, time and file checksum could be added. The latter might be > useful when upgrading a port to find files which might have local > modifications needing to be preserved. This could even be used > for the FreeBSD distribution itself, making upgrades safer and > easier. > > Then, instead of carefully making sure the PLIST matches what is > really installed, you just make sure that the port uses install > instead of cp to place its files. bsd.ports.mk would set the > appropriate environment variables to log the installation. The > record of the installation is 100% correct, even if there are > variant installation options. The manually maintained PLIST > seems to be like flypaper in a barn. I see one problem with this. If you make it too automated, then stuff the erroneously gets installed to dumb places like /usr/lib or /etc will not be noticed by porters, who are forced to notice it now. The problem I was addressing above was not the convenience of making PLIST (which I admit I'd like to have) but the ability for a package to be more agile in installing options, as a port can be. The obvious example is whether or not to gzip man pages. ----------------------------+----------------------------------------------- Chuck Robey | Interests include any kind of voice or data chuckr@eng.umd.edu | communications topic, C programming, and Unix. 9120 Edmonston Ct #302 | Greenbelt, MD 20770 | I run Journey2 and n3lxx, both FreeBSD (301) 220-2114 | version 2.2 current -- and great FUN! ----------------------------+-----------------------------------------------
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