On 15:38 03 Aug 2002, Sven Guckes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
| * Vincent Lefevre writes:
| > There are systems with multiple binaries.
|
| * Chris Palmer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> [2002-08-02 17:17]:
| > It's up to the sysadmin to keep the man pages in the
| > same directory prefix as the binaries. /usr/foo/man/man1
| > should correspond to /usr/foo/bin, et c.
|
| *sigh* Chris - don't be daft. we're not talking about
| systems of people with only one user and one binary.
Neither am I.
| we are talking about real live systems with thousands
| of users which have dozens of power-users who all
| keep their own binary or even several binaries.
Well, I only have hundreds of users. Poor me.
| here - take a look:
[... lots of binaries ...]
I only have a paltry 6 versions installed on my systems.
| now - can you install *the* manual which fits all binaries?
By tuning the MANPATH, naturally. It's trivial.
| thought so.
Really?
| so can we *please* drop the idea that there the
| manual has to be compliant with "the" binary?
| (and please don't start a discussion about
| adding different MANPATHs for every binary..)
Ooooh. Why? That's how I do it. And that's how my users do it.
If the manual doesn't have to match the binary then:
- it shouldn't list defaults AT ALL, referring to the
binary's inline help
- it shouldn't list ANY options not present in all mutts
OR
- or it should list _all_ options and be accurate about which mutt
versions have them (and lost them if superceded) and which
_patches_ have them. Then you can keep one huge master copy and
have this huge disclaimer at the front saying you'd better check
your mutt version to see if any of this applies.
But really, that's a cop out. Documentation _should_ match.
I describe at some length a system for doing this here:
http://www.zipworld.com.au/~cs/syncopt/
Bear in mind in the below example that the /usr/local/opt indirection is
because I maintain a master tree there, with client machine trees kept
in sync with a script, with tunable local/remote installs (i.e. rsync
or symlink depending). Users just see /opt/blah unless they look closely.
My install process is basicly:
cd to mutt src tree
mkdir /usr/local/opt/mutt-version
ln -s /usr/local/opt/mutt-version /opt/.
./configure --prefix=/opt/mutt-version && make && make install && echo YES
cd /usr/local/bin
ln -s /opt/mutt-version/bin/mutt mutt-version
If it's to be the system default:
cd /usr/local/opt
rm mutt
ln -s mutt-version mutt
/usr/local/bin/mutt is already a symlink to /opt/mutt/bin/mutt, and
/opt/mutt tracks the central one. Users wanting a specific mutt generally
hack their PATH and MANPATH to put that mutt's bin/man dirs at the front.
--
Cameron Simpson, DoD#743 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.zip.com.au/~cs/
I believe the difficulty is inversely proportional to the crotch-to-shoulder
measurement, and proportional to the coefficient of friction of the inside
surface. Mine got smelly so I cleaned it, now it's hard to put on!
(Lucky I'm not a well-known DoD'er, or that would end up in someone's .sig).
- [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Tom Gent)
