Les Mikesell wrote:
On Wed, 2005-12-28 at 10:27, Guy Fraser wrote:
It can be a contentious issue, exactly where to put
non base system files. Sun Microsystems used to prefer
/opt but almost everyone else uses /usr/local for most
add on software. But it is well understood that :
/opt is for third-party things packaged with installers.
/usr/local is your own. With appropriate PATH settings
you can have the system, pre-packaged, and your own compiled
versions installed and execute the one of your choice.
/bin, /sbin and /lib are for
single user base system commands and their required libraries.
In case no one has mentioned it yet, these are the things
that may be needed before /usr is mounted, given that /usr
can be a separate partition.
More to the point, on another machine. And/or shared with other systems.
I know of a chap who ran 40,000+ Linux virtual machines on one zBox a
few years ago. (Note, I didn't say he had tens of thousands of useful
Linux systems, the underlying zBoz was very busy running Linux, but not
very busy doing work for people. Hundreds, however, is relatively
common). He'd not have wanted to give each its own /usr (8.5 Gb here).
That it where the FHS and its requirement that /usr be ro (so don't go
building kernels there) are important.
The real theological battle is what is considered part of
the base system. Most Unix variants and Linux distributions
consider only essential software to be part of the base.
And more to the point, where third-party RPMs fit into
the picture. In RedHat-land they are almost always made
to fit into the vendor-provided scheme, clobbering system
files if there is a conflict. Sometimes that's what you
Never clobbering vendor-provided files unless, you the system
administrator, make them do so. And it's perfectly possible to make
relocatable rpms that will install almost anywhere.
I used Debian for a couple of years, and early on went mad getting extra
packages from here, there, everywhere. All installed into the
dpkg-managed vendor space just as most rpms do on FC.
--
Cheers
John
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