Hi all, Daniel J Bernstein, known as djb, created a package manager, called slashpackage, that uses the Unix file hierarchy as the package manager's database. As far as I can see, it has the following (dis)advantages:
ADVANTAGES: * Less crazy than apt-get, yum, xbps, pacman, etc * Always a determinate way to get to a file * Used heavily in djb and djb-inspired software * Requires no revision of "upstream" install scripts DISADVANTAGES: * Filesystem Hierarchy System (FHS) noncompliant directories /package and /command directly off the root. * I've never seen any distro that would allow anything directly off the root besides /usr, /var, /home, /tmp, /opt, /sys, /proc, /dev, /run * If everybody who thought they had a better idea were allowed to create their own directory directly off the root, the tree would be a zoo. INFORMATION: The following discuss the thought behind djb's slashpackage package manager layout: http://skarnet.org/cgi-bin/archive.cgi?2:mss:1802:201707:npmlmocljngkmhfamaic https://cr.yp.to/slashpackage.html http://thedjbway.b0llix.net/builddjb.html https://cr.yp.to/slashpackage/management.html https://www.skarnet.org/software/skalibs/flags.html QUESTIONS TO PONDER: * Do Debian djb style apps respect slashpackage, and if so, do they all do it the same way in the same directories? If so, perhaps it's best for Devuan to do it the same way. If Debian djb style apps respect slashpackage but put its roots in all sorts of different places, Devuan should go its own way. * I've heard Debian's runit will work right out of the box. If this is true, this would be an incentive to use the same directories as the Debian runit package. However, there's a runit-systemd package that I don't think Devuan would be in a position to install. * How horrible would it be to have directories /command, /package and perhaps even /service? /command and /package are both pure slashpackage, and all three are available the instant the root partition is loaded. * The s6 upstream installer has a choice as to whether to go slashpackage, and if so, in which directories (if not the original /command and /package)? I'll need to examine that. I'll keep you up to date on all of this. SteveT Steve Litt June 2017 featured book: The Key to Everyday Excellence http://www.troubleshooters.com/key _______________________________________________ Dng mailing list Dng@lists.dyne.org https://mailinglists.dyne.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/dng
