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On Wed, Dec 16, 2020 at 9:45 AM gevisz <gevisz@×××××.com> wrote: |
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> |
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> Nevertheless, the explanation why /var/db/repos/gentoo is better than |
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> /usr/portage is still welcomed. :) |
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> |
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There is a lengthy discussion on gentoo-dev on this, and my personal |
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first choice didn't win. :) |
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There is little dispute that /var makes more sense than /usr other |
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than legacy reasons. /usr is generally used for static data - on some |
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distros it might even be read-only, a squashfs, signed using crypto, |
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and so on. On a rolling release distro like Gentoo it might get |
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changed often by updates, but other than system updates nothing in it |
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should change. On a more release-based distro only security updates |
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or major releases would touch it. |
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/var on the other hand is used for application data and other things |
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that change all the time. That includes things like databases, which |
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the Gentoo repo basically is. Mail spools, print spools, caches, and |
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so on all go on there. |
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FHS formalizes all this stuff. |
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Now, where exactly in /var it goes is more a matter of debate. |
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/var/db is not specified in FHS, but it is used by FreeBSD which I |
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think was one of the selling points. Personally I stick it in |
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/var/cache as (IMO) it just contains a local copy of a repository that |
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is entirely stored elsewhere. Some would certainly disagree with |
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that. I think /var/lib would be an alternative place that keeps more |
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to FHS. |
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However, moving it out of /usr was a move with near-universal support. |
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And you can really put it anywhere you want by editing one line in |
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your portage config. I don't think the directory even exists in the |
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base install - it gets created the first time you sync so it is |
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entirely user-configurable. |
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-- |
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Rich |