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For as long as I remember we have kept a collection of geospatial data in /usr/local/share/data with a read-only symlink in 'user's home directory. This was intended to allow classroom installations, where some data could be available to all students, while preventing anyone from changing those files.
This arrangement has caused some issues with (at least) two
applications: GRASS
(https://trac.osgeo.org/osgeolive/ticket/2085), and OTB
(https://trac.osgeo.org/osgeolive/ticket/2176). To address these
issues, some "unnatural" chmod commands were introduced into the
install scripts, or cryptic explanations were added to the
Quickstarts. Maybe it's time that we re-examine the necessity of
this read-only data store. It would be more transparent to have a
"normal" setup with the data placed directory under 'user's home,
and avoid these work-arounds. Furthermore, I would assume that
anyone with the know-how to prepare a classroom setup could also
build her own data directory with any permissions she requires.
In order to weigh the importance of the read-only data directory, I suggest to field some questions to all OSGeo Live users: "Have you done a classroom installation of OSGeo Live?" "If yes, how important was the read-only data directory '/usr/local/share/data' ?" "Have you encountered problems with the read-only symlink called 'data' in 'user's home directory?"
Based on responses, we can then make a more informed decision whether to leave /usr/local/share/data as is, or initiate a change.
Best regards, Micha
-- Micha Silver Ben Gurion Univ. Sde Boker, Remote Sensing Lab cell: +972-523-665918 |
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