Re: non-text files in /etc
Bill Mitchell writes:
>I don't know if these should be regarded as bugs or not, but thought
>I'd mention them. There are two non-text files in /etc on my 0.93r6
>system: /etc/ld.so.cache and /etc/localtime.
What has their not being text files got to do with what follows?
>My slightly outdated copy of the FSSTND isn't crystal clear on this,
>but it describes /etc as "Machine-local system configuration";
>implying, at least to me, that it should contain files which are
>modified as desired to change machine-local configuration options.
>Possibly these should go in /usr/lib?
>
>I note that the ld.so(8) man page mentions /etc/lo.so.cache in
>several places.
Perhaps you should read ld.so(8) in more detail, in which you will
discover the purpose of ld.so.cache; it will change as new shared
libraries are added to the system, for example.
It therefore cannot go anywhere under /usr. It can't go under /var
because it'll be needed when /var isn't mounted (this also applies to
/usr, in fact).
I don't know exactly what /etc/localtime is for, but I expect that
it's in /etc for similar reasons.
ttfn/rjk
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