John Plocher wrote:
> So, let me toss out a proposal:
>
> OSS stuff (purposely undefined here :-) shall install into
> somewhere other than /usr/bin. The various directories
> discussed here (/usr/sfw, /usr/gnu, /opt/wherever) are all
> potential locations; the exact location for a particular
> instance of "OSS Stuff" is intentionally not specified here.
>
> ALL package dependencies are required to be on the above
> packages; all PATH dependencies are required to be on the
> above install locations.
>
> There shall also exist a "symlink convenience package"
> for each "OSS Stuff" that (following the "no conflict" rules
> mentioned elsewhere in this thread) makes symlinks in
> /usr/bin. NO components may depend on the existence of
> these packages or require their installation - they are
> intended for use by human users only, and are expected
> to be installed (or not) at the sole discretion of the
> customer.
That is getting very close to what we've always done with X in
Solaris, first in /usr/openwin, now in /usr/X11, except we've
only provided the symlink packages for libraries, not commands.
One of the big reasons we keep X in a separate directory still,
(and one of the biggest complaints I've heard about GNOME in
/usr/{bin,lib}) is the ease of replacing our implementation/version
with another, if the admin so chooses, whether that be XFree86,
a later X.Org version than we've moved to, a third party commercial
solution like XiG's or something we haven't imagined.
I know a number of Solaris 10 users who wish all the gnome tools
were in /usr/gnome so they could just install /usr/gnome-2.16 to
replace our now-ancient GNOME 2.6 in S10. At some point, we'll
similarly stop dropping new X.Org releases into S10, and there
will be people who will want to install /usr/X11R7.something-newer
instead.
--
-Alan Coopersmith- alan.coopersmith at sun.com
Sun Microsystems, Inc. - X Window System Engineering
