Re: Some ideas and concerns regarding fakeroot

[dark@xs4all.nl (Richard Braakman)]

joost witteveen wrote:

> I like the idea. There's one thing I'm not sure about, though: stat().
> 
> Suppose we've got two packages, foo and bar. One does, in the make install:
> 
>   if test -f /etc/foo-info; then
>     process /ect/foo-info, do things with info, 
>     and install the foo accordingly;
>   else
>     echo /etc/foo-info missing. Please create this file and re-run make info.
>   fi

This package is examining the system on which it is _compiled_ to make
decisions about the system on which it is _run_.  That's fine when
they are the same system, but it causes problems for Debian packages.

Namely, people who want to recompile the package will have to
duplicate the maintainer's system exactly, possibly including the
mysterious contents of /etc/foo-info.

I think that all such decisions about what to install should be
overridden by the debian/rules file, and should in no way depend 
on what happens to live in /etc on the maintainer's system.

Therefore, if fakeroot "breaks" such examination code by returning
information from the empty VIRTUAL_ROOT system, it serves as a nice
big warning sign to the package maintainer.

[example bar snipped]

> How is fakeroot going to distinguish between the two?

I don't think it should.

-- 
Richard Braakman


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