Subject: Re: location of user files in a package
To: Louis Guillaume <lguillaume@berklee.edu>
From: Jeremy C. Reed <reed@reedmedia.net>
List: pkgsrc-users
Date: 01/18/2007 17:04:41
On Thu, 18 Jan 2007, Brian de Alwis wrote:

> On 2007.01.18 17:15:48 -0500, Louis Guillaume wrote:
> > That way we can share /usr/pkg or even delete it if we want
> > to really start from scratch without hurting any data.
> 
> Wouldn't `pkg_delete -rf \*' be a better means of starting from scratch?

I think in his example, that would not help. The pkg_delete would not 
delete the custom files, but the next pkg_add would overwrite files.

Louis:

It depends on the software. It may take a lot of work to get them to check 
for their custom configurations and data under our SYSCONFDIR.

You may want to pick one and start looking through its source to find out 
if it is support or to see how easy it will be.

Also it will be better to have the upstream, real developers for the 
software maintain this and not have pkgsrc have many patches for this.

(For example, old xdm had to be patched so configurations could be kept 
under SYSCONFDIR. But now recent xdm from x.org makes it easy so patches 
aren't needed.)


  Jeremy C. Reed