On Tue, Jan 12, 1999 at 21:31:26 -0500, Buddha Buck wrote:
> Is there any particular reason (besides history and inertia) that non-free
> and contrip packages aren't installed into /opt?
>
> On the one hand, we keep saying that "Debian" is main, and that contrib
> and non-free aren't part of Debian. That would point to labelling contrib
> and non-free as "add-on packages", which according to the FHS, supposedly
> belong in /opt.
I've always associated /opt with large third-party (often proprietary)
software suites, e.g. Oracle, CDE, Applixware etc.
To me, using /opt for non-free and contrib seems counterintuitive, because
although they're not part of Debian proper, they are provided by Debian
developers, not by a third party.
Also, /opt is typically used in /opt/<packagename>/{bin,lib,share,...}
style, which is difficult to manage $PATH-wise if you have a lot of packages
in /opt, which I think many people would have if we'd put contrib and
non-free there.
Ray
--
ART A friend of mine in Tulsa, Okla., when I was about eleven years old.
I'd be interested to hear from him. There are so many pseudos around taking
his name in vain.
- The Hipcrime Vocab by Chad C. Mulligan
