On Thu, 2005-10-20 at 16:32 +0100, Mike Hearn wrote: > Hi, > > Every so often people pop up and give us (the autopackage team) flak for > using a default install path of /usr instead of /usr/local. > > The reasoning is that as RPM and friends don't check to see if the > software they're installing already exists on the filesystem, Yes. That's correct. The only software that in considered to be installed is that which is properly installed, using the same method as every other app. > This set of problems could be traded for an entirely different set (on > Fedora at least) if /usr/local was fully supported. Why should Fedora and Red Hat encourage installing software in a non-standard method? How is it easier to have an application that installs in a totally different method from every other app on my system? This isn't a defence of RPM. It's a defence of good systems management. One way to install software is better than two. How do I find out a list of my most recent apps, if half of them are installed one way and half another? How do I find out a list of the largest installed apps, if half of them are installed one way and half another? How do I simply find out what's even installed, if half of them are installed one way and half another? > Currently there are > lots of ways in which software installed here is a second class citizen. Yes! Because important software shouldn't be installed there. Sweet isn't it? > These problems affect source code installs too as most configure scripts > default to /usr/local. Yes, but most applications are installed using %configure, which makes configure install to /usr. People who run 'configure, make, make install' can easily make an RPM of most applications in under 5 minutes. I'd take about three myself. > Here are a few I noticed a while back - apologies if these have changed in > rawhide or if I am misremembering: (List of good things follows) > Does anybody have any objections to doing this? If not, what is the best > thing for me to do - file a single bug and just CC the maintainers of any > affected packages I can think of? Yes. Anything that encourages people not to install software properly is bad. If you want to improve the packaging system, improve it. Or write your own and make a distro that uses it exclusively. Don't try and encourage people to use two different packaging systems simultaneously. Mike -- fedora-devel-list mailing list fedora-devel-list@xxxxxxxxxx https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/fedora-devel-list
