On Tue, 27 Jul 1999, Joseph Carter wrote: > [...] > To do this I suggest we ammend policy first by replacing all existing > instances of /var/spool/mail with /var/mail and then changing the second > paragraph of section 5.6 which currently reads > > The mail spool is /var/spool/mail and the interface to send a mail > message is /usr/sbin/sendmail (as per the FHS). The mail spool is part > of the base system and not part of the MTA package. > > to the following: > > The mail spool is /var/mail and the interface to send a mail message is > /usr/sbin/sendmail (as per the FHS). The mail spool is part of the > base system and any package requiring use øf /var/mail must declare > dependency on base-files (>= #BASEFILESVER#). > > > Also, a new section should be inserted after section 3.1.2 containing the > following: > > 3.1.3 The system mail spool > > While the FHS mandates the mail spool be accessable as /var/mail, it is > important to retain compatibility with older packages and locally > compiled programs. Packages using the mail spool should use /var/mail > and declare dependency on base-files (>= #BASEFILESVER#).
I second this proposal, but please change the word "dependency" by "Pre-Dependency" (otherwise I would formally object ;-). Rationale: base-files (>=whatever) must be unpacked and *configured* before *any* package using /var/mail is *unpacked*, because the symlink /var/mail -> /var/spool/mail will be handled in base-files' postinst. [ Try to think what happens if an important program start to access /var/mail without /var/mail being there yet ]. BTW: The footnote pointed out by Antti-Juhani should be reworded also. (Yes, this is the footnote saying we should still follow /var/spool/mail regardless of what FHS says). Thanks. -- "9646ee6e65c45b4fb4034ce347d9e7f0" (a truly random sig)
