Eric Boutilier writes: > >... The alternative is to > >nuke /opt from the system and just install everything under /usr... > > > > > > Hmm, Sun service would not like it (to put it mildly), but other than > that it sounds worth considering if you ask me. So James, correct me if > I'm wrong... the following is a sample future scenario that I think > you're suggesting with a /usr solution...?
Actually, I was proposing that as a bit of hyperbole. I can't imagine someone taking it seriously because I believe that in that direction lay both architectural and support madness. > A user/customer installing a system decides they want an unsupported > freeware (ports) stack on their box. They check opensolaris.org to see > which stacks have petitioned for and received an endorsement from the > opensolaris community. They install the stack in /usr, and everyone > (except Sun service :-/ ) is happy... That's exactly what it would mean, and it's essentially what I think falls naturally out of the Fink/Debian placeholder-module mechanism. If you have two or more installable features that can satisfy the abstracted dependencies for other features on the system, then the implication is that you can choose among them. If you can't actually choose among them, if it damages the system or costs the user supportability, then why bother having the mechanism at all? It's either an unnecessary degree of freedom, or an accident looking for a good place to happen. There might be some limited cases where we can claim that this is marginally doable (would you like /usr/lib/sendmail to be sendmail or postfix?) but it's really unclear to me whether it's the right model in general. > A purist would argue that that pollutes /usr, but 99% of users just care > that things work and are easy to upgrade/maintain. Besides, the purist > is perfectly capable of rolling their own. True. Determining, though, what is and is not supported, and just how any poor implementor can ever test the pi(f(X)) supported combinations is an exercise for the reader. :-/ -- James Carlson, KISS Network <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sun Microsystems / 1 Network Drive 71.232W Vox +1 781 442 2084 MS UBUR02-212 / Burlington MA 01803-2757 42.496N Fax +1 781 442 1677 _______________________________________________ opensolaris-discuss mailing list opensolaris-discuss@opensolaris.org
