Re: horse carcas flogging (was: traceroute in /usr/bin, not /usr/sbin)

[Brent Verner <brent@rcfile.org>]

On 25 Jun 2001 at 23:25 (-0700), Adam McKenna wrote:
| On Tue, Jun 26, 2001 at 02:04:07AM -0400, Brent Verner wrote:
| > quoting /usr/share/doc/debian-policy/fhs/fhs.html/fhs-3.10.html
| > 
| >   Deciding what things go into "sbin" directories is simple: If a
| >   normal (not a system administrator) user will ever run it directly, 
| >   then it should be placed in one of the "bin" directories.  Ordinary
| >   users should not have to place any of the sbin directories in their 
| >   path.
| > 
| > When I am _not_ root on my box, I am most definitely _not_ acting in
| > an administrative capacity, and I _have_ found cause to run traceroute
| > while not root, as I'm sure many other users have.
| 
| If one accepts your definition of what programs might be run by normal users,
| then we might as well move all of sbin into bin, because a normal user might
| run any of those programs out of "curiosity".

and those progs which should rightly live in (usr)?/sbin would be found
very quickly by the 'curious' to be of little to no use, and would quiclky
retire back into the 'unused by normal users' category. Yes, this issue
can be _s_t_r_e_t_c_h_e_d_ out of proportion, but the reality still
exists that traceroute provides the _exact_ same utility, AFAIK, to a 
non-priviliged user as it does the root user, so why would one (have
or want to) gain root permissions to type '$ traceroute'?

| Based upon the verbiage that you have cited above, a reasonable person can 
| only conclude that when the FHS authors chose the (rather sloppy) phrase "If 
| a normal user will ever run it", what they really meant to say was "If the 
| distributor intends for normal users to run it", not "If normal users might 
| happen to run it because they're curious".

I think the wording of that paragraph of the fhs sums up the whole
issue very succinctly, and without prescribing the location of 
every known program, does a pretty good job of giving the guidance
to allow FHS compliant systems to be of maximal utility.

cheers.
  Brent