Mark Martinec writes:
> Michael,
>
> > I am the maintainer for the FreeBsd SA port and about to release patches
> > that change the default state directory from /var/lib/spamassassin to
> > /usr/local/lib/spamassassin
> > This makes it more consistent with FBSD's directory structure (they
> > don't use /var/lib for anything).
>
> I'm not sure if /usr/local/lib/spamassassin is any better than the
> unusual /var/lib/spamassassin. The 'man 7 hier' suggests the lib/
> is mainly for shared libraries and ar libraries, and rules files
> do not fit well into such category.
Well, it depends on your view; rules are loaded like libraries, and even
compiled to the same bytecode as the perl libs themselves at runtime.
They're just more frequently updated.
> If updated rules are supposed to go into /var, then perhaps the place
> for them is /var/db/spamassassin -- but I guess not: /var is for
> 'multi-purpose log, temporary, transient, and spool files');
>
> Or maybe /usr/local/share/spamassassin-var ('man 7 hier' suggests
> that architecture-independent files, possibly NFS-mounted, belong
> under /usr/local/share/, but /usr/local/share/spamassassin is
> unfortunately already used for another purpose).
>
> Perhaps the closest thing is /usr/local/libdata/, intended
> for 'miscellaneous utility data files'.
>
> The change will cause some confusion with current practices,
> with talks on the mailing list, and a mismatch in documentation.
Yes -- one of the most dangerous things a packager can do, in my opinion,
is change paths without a good reason. It *always* creates FAQs
and admin confusion, without exception.
> If doing the change, don't forget to patch the default for
> LOCALSTATEDIR in Makefile.PL (which ends up as LOCAL_STATE_DIR
> option default). There is a corresponding default in amavisd-new
> (but is only needed with versions of SA older than 3.1.5).
for what it's worth, is it not possible to override this from
the Makefile.PL command line? That is much better than
patching code.
> > The reason its important, is if you do use something like 'sa-update
> > --updatedir /usr/local/share/spamassassin or ../etc/mail/spamassassin,
> > THREE sets of plugins are loaded:
>
> Don't assume anybody is using --updatedir /usr/local/share/spamassassin.
> It is plain wrong, and this was discussed when sa-update became popular,
> both on the SA-user list a number of times, as well as on the amavis-user
> ML, so I hope nobody does it anymore. It is a waste of effort catering
> for such a misuse.
+1
--j.
