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From: kientzle@netcom.com
Subject: Re: What is meant by `port' (Was Re: Modem program for FreeBSD
Message-ID: <kientzleDMKvFC.C2x@netcom.com>
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest)
References: <4elddo$ee8@cdc2.cdc.net> <4esrr5$79b@mark.ucdavis.edu> <xcdivhmwfvi.fsf_-_@woodlawn.uchicago.edu> <4f4h2p$oub@mark.ucdavis.edu>
Date: Sat, 10 Feb 1996 20:54:47 GMT
Lines: 36
Sender: kientzle@netcom21.netcom.com
In article <4f4h2p$oub@mark.ucdavis.edu>,
David E. O'Brien <obrien@nob.ucdavis.edu> wrote:
>(2) the port fixes the Makefile for FreeBSD so that install paths to fit
>the 4.4BSD hier(7) scheme. If you ftp'ed and compiled Minicom from
>sunsite, you got things placed in /usr/bin, /etc, and /usr/man.
Unfortunately, although restricting new installs to /usr/local is
a vast improvement over what you describe, I still find it lacking.
I've been tinkering with the following scheme:
For each program/system/application/whatever, create
/usr/local/app/<program>/
with subdirectories--bin, lib, libexec, man/man1, etc.--for that
program.
The stock /usr/local/bin, /usr/local/man/man1, etc, are simply
populated by links. For example, my /usr/local/bin is periodically
refreshed by (essentially):
cd /usr/local/bin; rm *; ln -s /usr/local/app/*/bin/* .
The big advantage is that I can now relatively easily _remove_
applications from my system. I often install software, play with
it, and later decide the free disk space is worth more than the
app. Tracking down a bunch of pieces scattered over /usr/local/bin,
/usr/local/lib, /usr/local/etc, ... is tedious and error-prone.
(When was the last time you looked at /usr/local/lib and said
``what program does THIS belong to?'')
The current port scheme does try to maintain a database of all the
pieces of each installed program, but that's only convenient if
someone has already built the necessary list of pieces. Confining
the splatter for each program seems a cleaner approach.
- Tim