Re: libexecdir/datadir used incorrectly

[Alexandre Duret-Lutz]

>>> "Karl" == Karl Berry <address@hidden> writes:

 >> This should normally be @file{/usr/local/sbin}, but write it as
 >> @file{$(exec_prefix)/sbin}.  (If you are using Autoconf, write it as
 >> @samp{@@sbindir@@}.)

 Karl> Sorry, but once again, I fail to see any meaningful difference between
 Karl> this text and the text that's already there.  I don't object to it, but
 Karl> I don't see the point.  It mentions the actual directory name, but so
 Karl> what?  I don't get it.

I didn't either until this morning.  I think his point is that
"The default definition of ..." implies that another, non
default, definition can be used instead, and that some reader
may think a maintainer could supply this other definition.
(While I hope it's clear to all of us the intent is that this
other definition should come from nobody else but the
installer.)

In other words, and if I understood him rightly, Alfred wants to
remove the word 'default'.  He used the directory value just
because all other descriptions do that.

Maybe it would be even clearer if, in addition to these changes,
the first paragraph of this section was changed from

  Installation directories should always be named by variables,
  so it is easy to install in a nonstandard place.  The standard
  names for these variables are described below.  They are based
  on a standard filesystem layout; variants of it are used in
  SVR4, 4.4BSD, GNU/Linux, Ultrix v4, and other modern operating
  systems.

to something like

  Installation directories should always be named by variables,
  so it is easy to install in a nonstandard place.  The standard
| names for these variables and the value they should have in
| GNU packages are described below.  They are based on a
  standard filesystem layout; variants of it are used in SVR4,
  4.4BSD, GNU/Linux, Ultrix v4, and other modern operating
  systems.

| Installers are expected to override these values when calling
| @command{make} (e.g., @code{make prefix=/usr install} or
| @command{configure} (e.g., @code{configure --prefix=/usr}) if
| Autoconf is used.  GNU packages should not try to guess which
| value should be appropriate for these variables on the system
| they are being installed onto: use the default settings
| specified here so that all GNU package behave identically and
| let the installer tweak these to match his expected layout.

(I added this last sentence because I think someone once
suggested to automagically compute the correct definition for
$(docdir).)
--
Alexandre Duret-Lutz