ok, so i figured out why this path stuff is chaffing me. it is analogous to the 'what do we put in the shebang?' question for python.
for the weewx source code, we want '#!/usr/bin/env python' when you use python to install weewx, those get replaced with the full path to whatever python was actually used to install the weewx code. so if you run weewx from a clone of the git repo, you can easily change which python you use by changing how '/usr/bin/env python' resolves. this is really handy for switching pythons during testing, btw. or for running multiple weewx instances from a single tree using different pythons. (yes, these are corner cases, but very useful ones!) the package installers retain the '/usr/bin/env python' so that the /etc/default/weewx file can dictate which python will be used. that also lets you easily switch between the system's python or some locally installed python (from anaconda or brew or build-it-yourself). anyway, as soon as you replace the shebang, you make the installation very brittle. in many cases that is ok, but in many cases it is not. i think there is a similar pattern in the use of the weewx parameters for where things are located. as soon as you replace them, you have a very brittle installation. that makes upgrades more difficult, and makes more complication for maintaining backward compatibility. defer replacement as long as possible. m -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "weewx-development" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/weewx-development/ddc44443-9cd1-455b-b7a4-4abb73983272n%40googlegroups.com.
