Bug#2593: perl tries to install in /usr/local

[Ian Jackson <ian@chiark.chu.cam.ac.uk>]

Rob Browning writes ("Bug#2593: perl tries to install in /usr/local"):
>[Dominik Kubla <kubla@goofy.zdv.uni-mainz.de> writes:]
...
>> When installing the perl package it tries to install a directory
>> /usr/local/lib/site_perl.  This implies, that /usr/local is mounted
>> read-write, which might not be the case in an AFS or NFS
>> environment.
>>
>> Proposed fix: Document where the site_perl files should go, but
>> don't try to create the directory or do it only when /usr/local is
>> not a link and is mounted read-write.

We should do the latter.

> My (admittedly limited) experience with perl suggests that not having
> a site specific install directory created when perl is installed might
> be a big pain.  When you build any add on perl modules, perl will want
> to want to put them in the site directory by default (it's listed in
> Config.pm when perl is compiled).  It seems it would be a little
> awkward to have the directory listed in Config.pm, but not create it.
>
> OTOH, I think we're not supposed to touch /usr/local.  So an
> alternative might be to ask the user in the postinst (for the first
> install, not upgrades) whether or not to create the directory if the
> directory doesn't exist.

I don't think there's anything wrong with creating eg site-lisp and
site-perl directories under /usr/local, so long as we don't put
anything *in* them.

This is entirely in the spirit of the FSSTND, which allows the
presence of /usr/local/sbin &c.

Ian.