Raul Miller <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > On Wed, Sep 22, 1999 at 05:51:09PM -0700, Chris Waters wrote: > > There was nothing stopping them from creating links in /usr/local/bin > > either -- why would they get the hint all of a sudden from /opt/bin > > when they didn't from /usr/local/bin? I think that /opt/bin is a bad > > idea in the first place -- it offers *nothing* that /usr/local/bin > > doesn't already provide; has no advantages whatsoever; and encourages > > the nasty habit of using /opt, which I think should be encouraged to > > disappear completely. :-)
> I'll guess from this that you've not read FHS chapter 2. Yes, I've read chapter 2, and I just reread it. What about it? I see nothing there that contradicts what I said above. Both /usr (including /usr/local) and /opt are static and sharable, so what's the problem? In fact, that's pretty much how it has to be -- by the very nature of the beast, /opt has most characteristics in common with /usr. It's essentially an area for third-party vendors to have their own "private" little /usr-like trees. So, it has to be set up like /usr, so links from /usr/local to /opt shouldn't be a problem. If you're worried about them being on separate partitions, and maybe not always being mounted at the same time, well, ok, that may be an issue, but that doesn't seem to have anything to do with chapter 2. If that's the issue you're trying to raise, why not raise it instead of mumbling about irrelevencies? :-) > > I think we should *support* the /opt nonsense, since it's effectively > > a requirement, but I think we should stop short of encouraging or > > promoting its use. > This implies that creating directories is not support. No, it implies that creating these unnecessary, redundant, and arguably just-plain-*wrong* directories is *more* support than the whole /opt tree needs or deserves. :-p ;-) Basically, while it may be a form of support, I think it's crossing the line from support to promotion, and I don't want to promote the use of /opt. > Personally, I think that the existence of the directories will simplify > the documentation [...] Yeah, that could be. Is it worth it? I don't know -- my gut feeling is that it's not, but then I (obviously) dislike the whole /opt heirarchy. I've just seen it get too messy and ugly, even *with* reasonably competent admins setting up links and such. But at this point, I think I've said all there is to say on the matter. I think the whole thing is pretty minor in any case, and this tempest is about to overflow our little teapot here. If you're *that* determined to encrust our poor innocent system with the foul, odiferous sewage of /opt, heck, I'll live. :-) -- Chris Waters [EMAIL PROTECTED] | I have a truly elegant proof of the or [EMAIL PROTECTED] | above, but it is too long to fit into http://www.dsp.net/xtifr | this .signature file.