On Fri, Dec 19, 2008 at 10:32 PM, Dale Ghent <daleg at elemental.org> wrote: >>> /usr/compilers/... for this and future versions of compilers allowing >> Should we have /usr/interpreters too? > "But bash, ksh et al are interpreters, too!", some might argue.
> killer of usability? Any system architecture that allows multiple versions of something to be installed and used at the same time on the same system must, by necessity, provide a unique, out of the normative way place to put all those versions. /usr/compilers is not just for gnu -vs- studio, but also for gnu 3, gnu 4, gnu 4.1.lefthand.blue, f77, f88, f99 etc. These directories and their contents are aimed at the user who, through their own manipulation of PATH, Makefile or script, wish to use a specific version of a component. They are also used as the dependency target for any other delivered packages that are version sensitive. For those USERS who don't care about that level of detail, there also needs to be a way for them to say "I want this specific version to be the default". Today, this is done via a symlink in /usr/bin that sets the default for *ALL* users of the system. Don't confuse the two locations. We need both. /usr/bin for the unsophisticated user, /usr/compilers (and friends) for cross package version dependencies, power users and the like. There are WSARC cases that deal with this whole multiple version thing in depth. Find them, read them and use them. -John
