Re: [Groff] Macro path and /usr/local

[P. Alejandro Lopez-Valencia]

At 02:44 a.m. 06/05/2002 +0100, Colin Watson wrote:
> On Sun, May 05, 2002 at 08:33:08PM -0500, P. Alejandro Lopez-Valencia wrote:
> > At 01:52 a.m. 06/05/2002 +0100, Colin Watson wrote:
>
> Um, does DWB use */groff? If not, it won't clash.

No it doesn't. It dumps things around /usr/share/tmac /usr/share/troff/dev 
(if I recall correctly) and in a full installation it will have its own 
hierarchy under /usr (I seem to recall /usr/text, it's been years since 
I've got access to a full DWB install).

> Anyway, in the case of Debian I'm not too worried about /usr/share
> clashes with vendor Unixes. I'm prepared to bet that it wouldn't work
> anyway for a host of other reasons.

[snip]

> Well, these are the definitions in the FHS:
>
>        4.4  /usr/lib : Libraries for programming and packages
>
>        /usr/lib includes object files, libraries, and internal binaries that
>        are not intended to be executed directly by users or shell scripts.

[snip]

I think the FHS is already giving you the answer as to why there is an 
/usr/lib/groff directory. The files that are installed there are internal 
files not intended to be executed directly by users. E.g., the contents of 
/usr/local/lib/groff/site-tmac/ in a system with a native n/troff would 
contain:

.cp
.so /usr/share/tmac/tmac.ms

[See tmac/Makefile.sub). You are not supposed to call this macro directly 
but rather use groff's -C flag.

> Choosing between /usr/local, /etc, and /var depends on whether you
> believe macros are architecture-independent data, configuration files,
> or variable data (!).

That's highly relative. In SysVR4 and many derivatives the printing 
subsystem configuration files and filter binaries are in /usr/var/lp 
although they are symbolically linked to /etc/lp. Why do you think many 
call UNIX perverse? :)

Of course, as packager you are called to do what your conscience dictates. 
Yet, I perceive too many examples of Sinatrism ("doing it my way") in the 
Linux distros already; giving just one example, have you ever tried to 
disentangle the mess most Linuces do with vim's global configuration files?