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package contents prefix issue



Dear fellow Debian developers and users,

I am building a debian package (or rather a sub-release)for a private entity. Our "release" is based on stable. My problem is... with my superior, whose only input so far has been meddling in package's constistency and adherence to debian policy. Specifically, he wants the package "separated" in /usr/local prefix, to which I objected, supporting my position with relevant documentation. ("/opt is RIGHT OUT!, because that's making Windows out of Debian!" - his words, not mine.)

Out of dozens of sophisms I had to counter only one stood out as almost reasonable, that I cannot guarantee some package won't suddenly release files in name conflict with ours. My counterargument was that it cannot occur in stable release, and if anything, we should prefix or suffix our file names, not paths to avoid this improbable calamity. Of course some of our files cannot be moved out of /usr prefix (such as debconf templates), which introduces further inconsistency.

Furthermore, hogging /usr/local prohibits using it as an nfs mountpoint by system maintainers or developers (where new build could be installed and temporarliy mounted there for live system).

I humbly request an authoritative directive "from the horse's mouth" regarding this issue, preferably with pointers to misuse cases and relevant documentation other than Debian Policy Manual and FHS manual. Although I am aware the aforementioned should be sufficient, we're dealing with a case of counterproductive "not invented here" at best and "failure to communicate" at worst.

I will be very grateful for an answer resolving this issue - one way or the other.

Regards,
--
Jacek Krysztofik

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