Bug#638060: debian-policy: §9.1.1: FHS should also be a "must" for generated files

[Jonathan Nieder <jrnieder@gmail.com>]

Hi Axel,

Axel Beckert wrote:

> Policy 9.1.1 states: "The location of all installed files and
> directories must comply with the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard (FHS)
> [...]".
[...]
> I therefore suggest to rephrase this sentence as follows:
>
> "The location of all installed files and directories, and all files
> and directories generated or created by installed programs or scripts
> (including maintainer scripts) must comply with the Filesystem
> Hierarchy Standard (FHS) [...]".

Sounds sensible to me, with one exception: many programs write to
_configurable_ locations, without validating that the choice of the
user complies with the FHS, and I believe that is a sensible thing to
do.

So, perhaps:

	The default location of files and directories created by
	installed programs or scripts (including maintainer scripts)
	must comply with the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard (FHS).

Of course, you already mentioned that. :)

[...]
> It is not clear where to
> draw the line between these extremes, for example, would a script that
> installs a software to a non-standard location (e.g., because upstream
> has weird opinions about such things) after asking the user to confirm
> this be allowed in Debian?