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Carsten Lohrke posted <200409202117.34236.carlo@g.o>, excerpted |
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below, on Mon, 20 Sep 2004 21:17:26 +0200: |
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|
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> #Chapter 4. The /usr Hierarchy |
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> |
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> #Purpose |
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> |
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> #/usr is the second major section of the filesystem. /usr is shareable, |
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> #read-only data. That means that /usr should be shareable between various |
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> #FHS-compliant hosts and must not be written to. Any information that is |
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> #host-specific or varies with time is stored elsewhere. |
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> |
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> #Large software packages must not use a direct subdirectory under the /usr |
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> #hierarchy |
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> |
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> O.k., that doesn't forbid to add another directory and to use this one as a |
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> new base, but it still doesn't make sense to me. I see this formulation more |
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> as a gap in the standard. Either unintended or as a backwards compatibility |
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> thing to get everyone into the boat. |
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|
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OK, since nobody else has brought this up, I must be reading something |
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wrong, but I don't see what the problem is here. (I also repeat myself a |
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bit below. However, it's so obvious here, I find it difficult to believe |
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that someone else hasn't seen it either. Yet the fact remains I |
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haven't seen it mentioned yet, in what has become a rather long thread. |
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That must mean it's non-obvious, despite what it seems here, so excuse a |
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bit of belaboring of the point in my attempt to make it equally obvious |
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to others! <g>) |
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|
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As I see it, we are NOT putting "large packages" directly under /usr, |
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because the "large packages" in question are versioned (slotted per |
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individual directory) and under /kde. As I read the spec, /usr/kde is |
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already a level of indirection, because our packages are (perfectly |
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logically, it seems to me) laid out beneath /usr/kde and not directly in |
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/usr. |
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|
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IOW, the way I read it, /usr/kde-3.3 would be a violation, but |
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/usr/kde/3.3 isn't, because it's already a level of indirection. Just |
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because we've chosen to only put KDE related packages at that specific |
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case of the indirection level means nothing. The packages are STILL not |
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directly under /usr. |
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|
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Now, I WOULD have an issue with /usr/kde-3.3, and /usr/kde-3.2, and |
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/usr/kde-4.0, etc (and noting that with other distribs there'd likely be |
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only a single version-slot under /usr/kde). That's just a ridiculous |
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proliferation directly under /usr and I'm sure everyone would agree. |
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However, as has already come up, given the large (both in size and in |
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dependencies) tree that is KDE, I see nothing at all wrong with putting |
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that dir itself (not the packages or slots in it) directly under /usr, nor |
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can I see how it conflicts with the quoted rules above. |
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|
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Again, for those distribs without multiple KDE slots, a single /usr/kde |
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would indeed be a violation, as it's just a single (meta-)package. |
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However, the fact that we've chosen to group a very large package set that |
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under our (meta-)distribution could reasonably be several multiples of the |
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size of /most/ distribution's kde, under a /usr direct subdir with each |
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instance of our multiples below that, doesn't seem to me to be in conflict |
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with the FHS at all. Again, as others have pointed out in other contexts, |
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there's nothing wrong with adding /more/ dirs. We just have to have the |
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basics and observe the rules about what goes in them. |
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|
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Putting it another way, we've already proposed /usr/packages. Now, if we |
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got a whole bunch of packages, there'd be nothing wrong with splitting |
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that into say /usr/pkg-a-m, and /usr/pkg-n-z, right? OK, what if there |
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were more k- packages than all the others combined? There wouldn't be a |
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problem with /usr/pkg-but-k and /usr/pkg-k, right? |
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|
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We've just done gone the logical next step. Because KDE is multi-slotted, |
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and with KDE as big as it is already and the slotting essentially |
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multiplying that X times, we've just created what is essentially |
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/usr/pkg-kde, only without the pkg- part. I still contend that we aren't |
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putting our packages directly under /usr, as each package is in fact in a |
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slot in kde in /usr. Where's the FHS violation? I can't see it? |
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|
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-- |
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Duncan - List replies preferred. No HTML msgs. |
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"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little |
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temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." -- |
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Benjamin Franklin |
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-- |
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