Re: gnome-lib and Solaris 7x86

[Adam Morley <axm135 po cwru edu>]

At 01:56 PM 12/8/2000 -0500, Ben Taylor wrote:

> Bitter?  <sigh> I do this for free.  I *HATE* /usr/local.

i do see /usr/local as a "good"? thing.  i always viewed it as "local stuff 
needed for system functioning which doesn't come with solaris, but should 
reside in the /usr tree".  like, ssh.  or say a third party ftp server 
which starts at boot time.  granted, the same could  be argued for gnome, 
but i digress.  things which must run, or the system no longer works the 
way it was meant to.  granted, this case can be made for /opt, and surely 
/opt is easier to type than /usr/local.

/usr/local seems to me to be a rather bloated idea.  i dont know why it is 
perpetuated, but it is.  i remember once finding a server which had about a 
gig of stuff in /usr/local/ and there were a bazillion files in 
/usr/local/bin, etc.

i was wondering, do most linux distros still place all their binaries in 
/usr/local/bin?  what is the prevelant place for gnome under linux?

> I work for Sun, and I can't tell you the number of times people
> have shot themselves in the foot because they put all that stuff
> in /usr/local.  /opt is for "optional" software.  I have /opt/local,
> /opt/gnome, /opt/X11R6, and /opt/perl. One hell of a lot easier
> to maintain than that stinking pot of /usr/local

i would agree.  /opt is far too unused.


> > i personally am very bitter when a package doesnt spacify a choice for its
> > install path.  when i make packages, they default install in /usr/local,
> > but can be installed whereever you choose.  why more people dont do this i
> > dont understand.  and if i have /etc/ stuff too, then ill either put it in
> > /usr/local/etc or make a configuration files package too.
>
> And go ahead and move /etc/dt to /usr/local/etc/dt and see how
> dtlogin picks up things.

i dont want to.  im fine with dt.  it places its stuff in a 
subfolders.  thats one of my biggest issues with /usr/local.  and yes, i do 
make them default install in /usr/local because that is where the vast 
majority of systems are configured.  most of them time, i have a couple of 
different sets, depending on the system im using--those which install in 
/usr/local, those which install in /opt.  sadly the world is not perfect 
and i have to deal with systems which use /usr/local.


> And since Gnome is such a huge hulking package, a choice of
> where to put it means that you'd have to set a bunch of LD_LIBRARY_PATH 
> directories, and I'd prefer to keep things
> simple.

definately.  i have a gnome only directory which only contains the gnome 
related binaries, libraries, etc.

i just dont enjoy cookie cutter packages.  it makes it hard when im trying 
to slap a package into a system which is already running.  it i were 
bringing one up from scratch, i wouldn't mind much though.  i guess it all 
goes back to the idea that /opt is far too under used these days.

adam