On 12/19/08 02:20 PM, James Carlson wrote:
> Byron Servies writes:
>> On 12/19/08 11:21 AM, George Vasick wrote:
>>>  ls -l /usr/gnu/bin/cc /usr/bin/gcc /usr/sfw/bin/gcc
>>> lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root    14 2008-12-11 12:56 /usr/bin/gcc -> 
>>> ../sfw/bin/gcc*
>>> lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root    17 2008-12-11 12:56 /usr/gnu/bin/cc -> 
>>> ../../sfw/bin/gcc*
>>> -r-xr-xr-x 3 root bin  88320 2008-12-11 12:56 /usr/sfw/bin/gcc*
>>>
>> Just because it has been done doesn't make it a good idea.  Having all 
>> the different names and links makes upgrades hard and consistency moot.
>>
>> Pick a location.  Pick a name.
> 
> I'm not sure I see exactly what's amiss with the above proposal.  Are
> you objecting to /usr/gnu/bin/cc in particular or more generally to
> the use of any symlinks?
> 
> In a perfect world, we wouldn't ship anything under /usr/sfw.  gcc
> would go in as /usr/bin/gcc (where it belongs), and then there'd be a
> symlink from /usr/gnu/bin/cc to /usr/bin/gcc for those who want a
> GNU-ish environment.
> 
> It's not at all wrong for gcc to appear as "cc" when /usr/gnu/bin is
> before /usr/bin on the user's path.  That's by design.
> 

I am objecting to having a single binary referred to by different names 
in several locations.  This invites confusion between incompatible 
programs (cc, make, ld, cpp, yacc, etc.) and frustration when a 
developer has the "wrong" bin directory first and doesn't understand why 
  make suddenly doesn't work.

On Linux, this is not a problem precisely because the gnu programs were 
created to replace the standard unix commands with similar functionality 
and there is near-zero chance of a competing environment being available.

This is not the case on an OpenSolaris machine where multiple possible 
development environments may be installed at the same time.

Multiple install locations also lead to even more confusion: why are 
things over here AND there? Which path should I use?  Are the two 
compilers different versions? Why?

In my opinion, the proposed layout makes things worse without solving 
any problems.

Byron
-- 
Byron Servies
Sun Microsystems, Inc.
1 (831) 621-9807 / x81182 voice
1 (831) 621-9807 fax
mail to: byron.servies at sun.com
http://www.sun.com

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