On Wed, Sep 22, 1999 at 10:29:20AM -0700, Chris Waters wrote: > Well, 2.0 and the 2.1 both say that these dirs are a) reserved for > local sysadmin use, and, more importantly, b) packages "shall function > normally in the absence of these reserved directories."
While that's true, I think it's important to remember that we're designing Debian for our users. As I see it, creating these directories, and possibly even supplying some documentation suggesting how they might be used, would be a good thing for our users. And, I don't see that the existence of these directories would create any problems for our users or our developers. Remember that packages designed for /opt go in /opt/<packagename>, so you'll have a variety of /opt/*/bin directories, for example. We already have /opt/man/ in /etc/manpath.config. If we also have /opt/bin in our default path, and /opt/include preconfigured as system include files, etc. then we make it a lot easier for a novice sysadmin to integrate an /opt package with the rest of our system. There would be no need to go and change a bunch of configuration files -- all the sysadmin has to do is install some softlinks. A simple procedure is safer, and easier to document than a complex procedure. [I see this as relevant to point 5 of the social contract -- us supporting users who elect to install non-free software.] Thanks, -- Raul
