Re: Tony Nugent's arguments about RH .spec files

Michal Vitecek (M.Vitecek@sh.cvut.cz)
Tue, 19 Jan 1999 14:43:56 +0100 

 i don't think rpm's should differ from the default location of current AS
 files (although i never understood the reason why they were moved from
 /usr to /usr/local). anyway, it's not outr problem to bend down to lame
 RH newbies who can't find a file on their systems, providing there's a
 section about it in README or FAQ, which they should read anyway.

Andrew Sullivan wrote:
>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
>'finger -l ajsulliv@mcmail.cis.mcmaster.ca' to find the AfterStep FAQ file.
>
>

-- 
			fuf


------------------------------ na IRC -------------------------------------
 BillGates [bgates@www.microsoft.com] has joined #LINUX
 ...
 mode/#linux [+b BillGates!*@*] by DoDad
 BillGates was kicked off #linux by DoDad (banned: We see enough of Bill
          Gates already.)