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 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~