Re: HTML format documentation

[Richard Stallman]

    > Why do you think `make install' should not install them in /etc?

    Because `make install' is not supposed to install anything outside
    --prefix.  As I wrote before, people often install software as
    non-root, and it's a nuisance when `make install' fails because the
    software inadvertently tries to install something in /etc or
    /usr/local just because they think it's right.

That is a good point.  And now I seem to recall that that was the
argument for the current default for sysconfdir.

Perhaps we should add an install-sysconf target, as you suggested.
But that is an incompatible change.

Here is an idea.  Suppose that the default for sysconfdir were computed
from the actual value of prefix, as follows:

    If prefix is `/usr', use `/etc'.
    Otherwise, use $(prefix)/config.

Would this be a good approach?  Can it be implemented correctly and
generally using ordinary Make?  (Perhaps it could be done using a
command that runs `sed'.)