David.Comay at sun.com wrote:
> Joe,
>
>>> +1
>>>
>>> dsc
>> Do you understand that if the link is Uncommitted, you can only change
>> what it points to at Minor release points. You can't change it to
>> point to
>> the "newer, not known to be compatible" version.
>
> Sorry, I was +1'ing the comment by Nico that customers should not be
> replacing the link themselves.
>
> I certainly do understand the restriction around repointing the link
> only at minor release points (or if a new version is known to be
> compatible). The intent in Stefan's case was to freeze the version and
> the link once the minor release is actually delivered. That version
> and the link can then only be changed in the subsequent minor release.
OK. Wasn't clear to me.
>> From what I've heard about the model so far (and its not enough), I
>> don't
>> see value in a link.
>
> What's the reason, then, to ship /usr/bin/java or /usr/bin/perl? I
> guess I don't quite see the difference.
There are lots of reasons to ship these.
Maybe we are talking about different links. The one I'm referring to
was only
in the discussion, and not the spec.
If the link you are talking about is:
/usr/bin/foo -> /usr/foostuff/v1.2.3.4/bin/foo
there isn't a lot to discuss.
If its:
/usr/bin/foo -> /etc/foo-redirection/foo
/etc/foo-redirection -> /usr/foostuff/v1.2.3.4/bin
and foo-redirection is editable, then there is a lot to discuss.
Note that the above is the Java model and it was viewed as an exception,
rather
than a precedent. (Aside: I can't tell you how much I wish the redirection
link was in /etc rather than /usr - mucho zone pain.)
However, if the links aren't editable (as you seem to be saying), there
isn't much
issue with any of this. Lot's of i's to dot and t's to cross, but not
much more.
Best discussed after the model is articulated.
Maybe an easier task (rather than a general best practice) would be to
articulate why this is like Perl. I still haven't found time to review the
Perl decision, but I suspect you may find the reason we did this for
Perl was also an exception (one time event) and doesn't apply here.
Then again, I'm old enough to have lost many, many neurons, so
maybe not.
- jek3
