Tony Nugent's arguments about RH .spec files

Andrew Sullivan (asullivan@sprint.ca)
Tue, 19 Jan 1999 07:22:17 -0500 (EST) 

Hi all,

I've had a fairly active discussion over the last two days with Tony
Nugent (<Tony.Nugent@usq.edu.au>).  He is arguing that all AS releases,
including any source releases, include a .spec file for RPMs, and that
this .spec file install everything in /usr/ rather than /usr/local/.

I know there have been issues around this.  His argument amounts to the
following: since RPM managed packages are only ever supposed to go in
/usr, putting the RPM in /usr/local amounts to breaking the standard.
Moreover, since the .spec file can easily define the RPM install location
as /usr instead of /usr/local, there ought not to be a problem.  This is
particularly true if the .spec file is always included with every (source)
tarball of AS: the RPM will never be generated to install in the wrong
place.

I don't pretend to understnad the intricacies of the RPM system, as I have
never used an RPM.  He and I both agreed that discussing the matter too
much on the open list was just bound to incite a stoooopid flamewar, so I
thought I would suggest his proposal here.

In order to reduce confusion, I will add a (couple of) note(s) to the FAQ
about the difference between RPM versions of AS and those compiled from
source.  While I find it passing annoying that one can rely on virtually
_every_ UN*X user/sysadmin _except_ about 25% of the RH users to know
that their binaries may go in a non-default location, it seems that this
will create enough questions to warrant specific mention.

I submit this as a simple proposal.  I don't know how to begin creating a
.spec file for RPM, and am not anxious to learn, particularly, although I
suspect that Mr Nugent would provide one if pressed.  (I imagine, though,
that a recent one would be the most useful anyway, right?)  Any comments
or suggestions are gratefully received.

A.

Andrew Sullivan | asullivan@sprint.ca (better)| ajsulliv@mcmaster.ca (worse)
                                   *  *  *
              Go to http://www.davidv.net/~ajsulliv/, or issue
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