Todd Vierling wrote:
> * Move /usr/pkg to /emul/aout/usr/pkg, and rebuild /usr/pkg incrementally
>   and *cleanly* rather than in one big inconsistent pkg_delete/rebuild
>   sweep.  This is accomplished by allowing the old binaries to find their
>   config files, external extra utility files, and so forth -- things that
>   are *NOT* searched by ld.so -- in /emul/aout/usr/pkg, until the package in
>   question has been recompiled for ELF.

I don't particularily see why you should need to _move_ your old
/usr/pkg to /emul/aout/usr/pkg. pkgsrc does check for executable
format and doesn't allow the newly built packages (ELF) to depend
on old a.out ones.  So, you _can_ incrementally upgrade your /usr/pkg
without need to move anything anywhere.[*]

I personally want my config files all in /etc, surely without regard
to executable format.

> * Keep some separate system config files for ELF and a.out in /etc and
>   /emul/aout/etc, respectively.  (One particular problem I had at one time
>   was the presence of IPv6 addresses in my local /etc/hosts when trying to
>   run 1.3-compiled static binaries.)

This is actually abusing the a.out -> ELF switch and not something
to be taken as an argument to keep COMPAT_AOUT, IMHO.
 
Surely, it's possible to do some thing with COMPAT_AOUT which can't
be done with ld.so.  However, one can be as well off with the ld.so
solution, if one arranges things appropriately.  Thus, I don't see
a need for kernel solution, and would like to ditch it.

Jaromir

 [*] Tho eventually you get fed by the pain of incremental upgrade,
     ditch the old pkgs and just rebuild it all. At least that's what
     _I_ did :) From that point on, you only deal with your old a.out
     binaries, which you surely do NOT want to do path translation dance.

-- 
Jaromir Dolecek <jdolecek@NetBSD.org> http://www.NetBSD.org/Ports/i386/ps2.html
-=- We should be mindful of the potential goal, but as the tantric    -=-
-=- Buddhist masters say, ``You may notice during meditation that you -=-
-=- sometimes levitate or glow.   Do not let this distract you.''     -=-