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

[Colin Watson]

On Mon, May 06, 2002 at 09:34:24AM +0200, Werner LEMBERG wrote:
> systemtmacdir holds data specific to the operating system groff is
> running under.  For example, assume --prefix is /usr/local, and you
> install under SunOS.  By default, groff tests whether SunOS provides
> /usr/lib/tmac/s (which it usually does; aclocal.m4 checks some other
> possible locations and macro prefixes also).  If found, groff installs
> its own s.tmac as gs.tmac in /usr/local/share/groff-1.18/tmac, and a
> small wrapper file /usr/local/lib/groff/s.tmac which looks like this:
[...]
> So systemtmacdir is really platform-dependent and not
> architecture-dependent, since SunOS exists for various architectures
> AFAIK.
> 
> > What would people think about moving systemtmacdir to
> > /usr/share/groff/site-tmac
> 
> This isn't a good idea IMHO for the reasons outlined above.

I understand the general rationale now - thanks! Debian policy and
practice would have that in /usr/share, however. We use /usr/lib for
files which vary from one Debian architecture to another; the rest of
the system is not prepared to be set directly alongside other Unixes in
this way, so the groff packaging doesn't need to be either. People are
always free to rebuild from source if need be.

I'm not asking for the defaults in the groff Makefiles to be changed,
just checking whether the reason for /usr/lib was that people might be
using some perverse macros which need to be different depending on
whether one is using Linux/alpha, Linux/sparc, Hurd/i386, or what have
you; it sounds like the answer is no.

> > and localtmacdir to /usr/local/share/groff/site-tmac?
> 
> This would be an additional directory, but configure hasn't a switch
> for using a second (local) directory tree.

I added one in the Debian packaging some time ago, because the move from
/usr/share/groff to /usr/share/groff/<version> caused some backward
compatibility problems for existing packages (specifically vgrind, if
memory serves).

> You have to fix this in your Debian change file for groff, I believe.

Thanks for the advice.

-- 
Colin Watson                                  address@hidden