Caveat 1: In case you don't use the top-level default `make' target when building from the repo, this change means that you need to run `make pkg-links' when you next update.
Caveat 2: Feel free to skip the rest. This message is on the far end of what most of us care about in the package system. I think the changes are unavoidable, though, and I think the mostly get us to a complete and consistent design point for multi-user installations (likely common) and "/usr" versus "/usr/lib" conventions (not so much, but I think there is demand for that). When single-collection packages become the default, I don't see much use for `raco link', and instead it will be better for most of us to use `raco pkg install --link'. But I see `raco link' sticking around as an layer that some may want to use or look inside. To bring `raco link' and `raco pkg' more in line with each other, and to generally clean up a mistake (IMO) in `raco link', I've changed the behavior of `raco link -u' to be like `raco pkg ... -u': it installs a link in a user- and version-specific way, instead of in a user-specific but all-version way. Naturally, the `raco link' command now supports `-s'/`--shared', just like `raco pkg'. Links installed with `-u' now go into a "links.rktd" file that's in the version-labeled directory in the user's add-on directory, instead of in "links.rktd" (with a version regexp) outside the version-labeled directory. The "config.rktd" file in "etc" can now specify a location for the installation-wide "links.rktd" file and "pkgs" installed-package directory (with its "pkgs.rktd"). Furthermore, "config.rktd" can provide a list of additional files/directories to search. This allows the main "links.rktd" and "pkgs" to act like "/usr/lib" things, while additional directories can act like "/lib" things. The `-C'/`--links' command-line flag to `racket' has been removed. The default location for the installation-wide "links.rtkd" and "pkgs.rktd" files have moved from "etc" back into "lib". Either location seems sensible to me, but with the generalization to support a installation-wide search list, it works better to keep "pkgs.rktd" together with the installed package implementations, and it seems best to keep "pkgs" and "links.rktd" together. Note that the search path for collections goes through user-specific, version-specific links first (i.e., "user" scope), then user-specific, all-version links (i.e.,"shared" scope), and then installation-wide links (i.e., "installation" scope). The package system should similarly work sensibly if you, say, install a package at "user" scope that shadows collections for a package (possibility using the same package name) at "installation" scope. For now, you have to use `raco pkg install --force' to make that happen; longer term, I think we want an option that is like `--force' but limited to sensible shadowings. _________________________ Racket Developers list: http://lists.racket-lang.org/dev
