Hi Tony :)
* A.J.Mechelynck <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> dixit:
> Bram Moolenaar wrote:
> [...]
> >> I don't see how getting rid of hardcoded directories in the source
> >>code is going to cause problems for users ;) In fact, hardcoded
> >>directories may cause problems: if you modify "src/Makefile" and don't
> >>reflect those changes in the source, for example. Of course, end users
> >>shouldn't modify things under "src/Makefile" if they're marked as "DON'T
> >>MODIFY THIS", but they don't have to work hard to do that and it will
> >>cause problems.
> >
> >The warning is there:
> >
> >### Location of Vim files (should not need to be changed, and
> >### some things might not work when they are changed!)
> [...]
>
> Even though the README mentions it (recommends it?), personally I don't
> believe in modifying the Makefile.
I don't do it, because I think the same. I just pass the variables
to make, and I must confess that it is risky, because the Makefile can
ignore or even replace command line arguments (Vim's makefile doesn't).
> I also believe in installing programs in their standard locations, even if
> installing elsewhere might cause no trouble: if a standard install doesn't
> work in the standard location, it's probably a bug; in a nonstandard
> location, it could quite well be a false maneuver.
I would call it "default locations" and not "standard locations". I
think that a "standard location" is where the sysadmin feels a file
belongs, following his system policies. And under UNIX, this can be a
bit tricky, because some sysadmins will place some files in certain dirs
so an app they have to perform some admin task will do its work easily,
or things like that. Vim, being an editor with a big runtime, is a very
special case, but on the average, any application using autoconf doesn't
care about where its files are, as long as you have told it through
configure at build time.
Not a big deal using symlinks, of course (e.g., so the backup tool
finds the files in the system's standard locations), but I prefer the
autoconf way instead of having to tell things to "make" ;)
I can live with all this, anyway ;) I'll try my best to prepare the
patches but fortunately this is by no means urgent.
Raúl Núñez de Arenas Coronado
--
Linux Registered User 88736 | http://www.dervishd.net
It's my PC and I'll cry if I want to... RAmen!
