On Wed, Jul 22, 2009 at 10:54 PM, Michael Homer<mich...@gobolinux.org> wrote:
> On Wed, Jul 22, 2009 at 8:05 PM, Michael Homer<mich...@gobolinux.org> wrote:
>> On Wednesday 22 July 2009 17:50:31 Hisham wrote:
>>> On Tue, Jul 21, 2009 at 2:27 AM, Michael Homer<mich...@gobolinux.org> wrote:
>>> > On Tuesday 21 July 2009 15:03:25 Hisham wrote:
>>> >> I really liked it. How long is the abstract supposed to be, is there a
>>> >> word/character limit?
>>> >
>>> > 500 words. It's about twice that now.
>>> >> In terms of actual information, I think everything is there. The only
>>> >> observation I have is that the two parts ("Background" and "Aliens")
>>> >> are not really linked, especially since Aliens is presented as a
>>> >> distro-agnostic solution -- with very little change, each of them
>>> >> could be a whole abstract for two different talks. :)
>>> >
>>> > To an extent, yeah. The background informs the design, so I'd like to
>>> > mention it, but I think the really interesting part is the Aliens side of
>>> > things. I will err in that direction in cutting it down.
>>>
>>> I agree, that's the novel part, so it should receive the focus.
> I am also at this point toying with submitting a general GoboLinux
> paper as well, based around the "background" part of the original
> draft abstract-alike. In for a penny, and all that. So if anybody has
> comments or suggestions on *that* too...
I decided to go ahead with this too. I have submitted both proposals,
the Aliens one yesterday and this one just now. I still have the
ability to edit the title or abstract for a few more hours, so
comments on it are welcome too (but be quick about it).TItle: An updated directory structure for Unix While the standard Unix structure has survived for many years, much of it rests on assumptions that are no longer true or necessary. This paper will explore the historical reasoning that gave rise to the current structure, and how greater functional organisation of the Unix filesystem layout may be achieved that is more line with the reality of contemporary computing. GoboLinux is a distribution using an alternative filesystem hierarchy intended to provide a more logical layout for programs and data, and to make the structure of installed applications explicit in the directory tree. This paper presents the directory structure employed in GoboLinux, including the rationale behind the changes and an assessment of the shortcomings it was proposed to fix. In GoboLinux, each program is installed into its own separate, versioned directory, which also represents the package database. An automatically-maintained tree of symbolic links keeps the program contents accessible without overhead, while another set of fixed links maintains compatibility with the original Unix tree. Programs may be installed using the distribution's binary packages, its "Compile" tool and database of recipes, or manually, each giving equal results. Historical legacies such as the separate roles of the various bin and lib directories in the standard FHS are removed, as they no longer represent any meaningful distinction. These consolidations and others also have the function of making the layout in some ways more compliant with the FHS and POSIX standards than many others, as any standard-specified path is resolvable. This structure locates all files associated with a program in one place, without losing compatibility with programs expecting fixed paths. Any package management task may be performed using only standard POSIX tools (though it is not necessary to do so, and the set of system tool scripts is the recommended method). Multiple versions of any program may inherently be maintained in parallel, and programs not yet contained within the distribution packaging system may be installed manually without interference or missing any of the other advantages of the package management system. -Michael _______________________________________________ gobolinux-devel mailing list gobolinux-devel@lists.gobolinux.org http://lists.gobolinux.org/mailman/listinfo/gobolinux-devel
