From owner-freebsd-arch Sun Jul 14 14:56:13 2002 Delivered-To: freebsd-arch@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.FreeBSD.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 3D77337B487; Sun, 14 Jul 2002 14:56:05 -0700 (PDT) Received: from thuvia.demon.co.uk (thuvia.demon.co.uk [193.237.34.248]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 4134343E42; Sun, 14 Jul 2002 14:56:03 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from mark@thuvia.demon.co.uk) Received: from dotar.thuvia.org (dotar.thuvia.org [10.0.0.4]) by phaidor.thuvia.org (8.11.6/8.11.6) with ESMTP id g6ELu1b45587; Sun, 14 Jul 2002 22:56:01 +0100 (BST) (envelope-from mark@thuvia.demon.co.uk) Received: from dotar.thuvia.org (localhost [IPv6:::1]) by dotar.thuvia.org (8.12.3/8.12.3) with ESMTP id g6ELu0KC080284; Sun, 14 Jul 2002 22:56:00 +0100 (BST) (envelope-from mark@dotar.thuvia.org) Received: (from mark@localhost) by dotar.thuvia.org (8.12.3/8.12.3/Submit) id g6ELu0E4080283; Sun, 14 Jul 2002 22:56:00 +0100 (BST) Date: Sun, 14 Jul 2002 22:56:00 +0100 (BST) From: Mark Valentine Message-Id: <200207142156.g6ELu0E4080283@dotar.thuvia.org> In-Reply-To: Doug Barton's message of Jul 14, 2:20pm X-Mailer: Mail User's Shell (7.2.6 beta(5) 10/07/98) To: Doug Barton Subject: Re: Package system flaws? Cc: arch@freebsd.org Sender: owner-freebsd-arch@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk List-ID: List-Archive: (Web Archive) List-Help: (List Instructions) List-Subscribe: List-Unsubscribe: X-Loop: FreeBSD.ORG > From: Doug Barton > Date: Sun 14 Jul, 2002 > Subject: Re: Package system flaws? > Mark Valentine wrote: > > 1. Packages install to /usr/local by default; > > Yes, and it's incredibly likely that they always will. Unfortunately there are too many people who don't seem to see the bigger picture. :-( > First, you can set PREFIX to be something else in your > /etc/make.conf file, Doesn't work for packages, only ports. Hence my interest in the recent discussion of making install-time relocation work. > Second, you can set a different directory to be your "really > local" directory, and set your "long-standing (since 4.2BSD) > cross-platform administrative policies" any way you want. Right, change the world because of a single OS vendor's mistake. I then have to deal with conflicts with systems and software which _want_ you to use /usr/local for this purpose. I hate kludges and inconsistencies. My workaround to date has been to steer clear of FreeBSD packages (and while I was at it I avoided ports too, since if I'm already building from source I may as well retain my own policies). Unfortunately, it would be unreasonable for me to suggest my clients do the same, so I am forced to support a different strategy (in this case, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em - everything in /usr/local is a package, and I now have an additional [non-standard] place where local policy is maintained). Maybe one day I'll get used to it enough to migrate my main server. > Asking to > change the default is totally non-productive at this stage of the game. I'm an idealist who believes that mistakes can usually be corrected, given a bit of care with the transition. Cheers, Mark. -- Mark Valentine, Thuvia Labs "Tigers will do ANYTHING for a tuna fish sandwich." Mark Valentine uses "We're kind of stupid that way." *munch* *munch* and endorses FreeBSD -- To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-arch" in the body of the message