On Tue, Sep 05, 2000 at 10:30:57AM -0400, Russell Nelson wrote:
> I don't understand why Debian doesn't have exceptions for packages
> which require cross-platform compatibility. Is the concept of a piece
> of software which uses the same pathnames no matter where you
> encounter it so strange? And all of the compatibility can be achieved
> through symlinks, so what's the big deal? Binaries can actually be
> stored in /usr/bin, control files can actually be stored in
> /etc/qmail, the queue can actually be in /var/spool. All that Dan
> insists on (and it's a reasonable insistance) is that anyone can sit
> down at a qmail installation and say "vi /var/qmail/control/locals".
We call debian-policy this way because it is our policy and not our law.
If upstream wants to have files at a specific location we can life with
some violations. Don't expect packages with their binaries in /etc to
be accepted into Debian though.
> If you want to see a *real* horror, look at how qmail gets started up.
> Might be by running it from /etc/rc.local. Might be from
> /etc/rc.d/init.d/qmail. Might be from /etc/init.d/qmail. Might be
> from /etc/init.d/{qmail,smtpd,pop3}. Might be from /service/qmail.
On a Debian system it will be started from /etc/init.d/<packagename>.
Simple as that. That script can of course call a script in /var/qmail
or wherever. There are some packages which do (postgresql for example).
> Logs might be in /var/log/qmail. Might be in /var/log/syslog. Might
> be in /var/log/maillog. Might be in /service/qmail/log/main.
I don't really know qmail. If qmail generates a single logfile it should
be in /var/log/qmail. With multiple logfiles that should be a directory
containing the individual files.
> Of course, the Debian people have a worthwile goal. It's just that
> their goal, lower support costs, can be achieved in other ways. In
> fact, I'd even say that their method is wrong. Nobody goes to Debian
> people and asks them for MTA support (at least I'd hope not, not
> unless Debian plans on reinventing *every* wheel). No, they go to the
> mailing list associated with the MTA.
That's not the way it is intended to be. Users should ask the maintainer
of a package before bothering the upstream developer. That way we take
work away from the developers. If the Debian guy can't help with the problem
you can still ask the developer.
That's how support works. 90% of the questions are easy ones which can be
answered by people which do not have the full knowledge about the software.
cu
Torsten
