Re: FHS 2.3 Released
Hi All,
I don't know why we tend to point out issues after the final release, rather
than when the version is in beta. Oh well...
I noticed that the section "/etc/xml: Configuration files for XML
(optional)" [0] states that *.conf indicate generic configuration files. I
think this notion of a 'generic' configuration file is a bit unclear and
therefore not that useful.
Also, Debian does indeed put XML-related configuration files in /etc/xml,
but they are almost never of the form *.conf. Their names are typically
determined by the xml-related package for which they serve as config files.
Examples here are DTDs, stylesheets, and parts of xml processing toolchains.
The same section also states "The super catalog file catalog references all
the centralized catalogs."
These naming conventions were part of an original proposal for an LSB SGML
addendum that was never in fact approved, largely due to a lack of
consensus. At any rate, it _only_ applied to the SGML catalog (aka T9401)
system; XML catalogs were never a part of that discussion.
My point: Debian uses the terms 'Root Catalog'[1] (for /etc/xml/catalog) and
'Package Catalogs' (for other package-related catalogs in /etc/xml), rather
than 'Super' and 'Centralized' catalogs, chiefly because we thought the
names Root and Package conveyed more meaning than the terms 'Super' and
'Centralized'. We've even adopted the same terminology for the SGML catalogs
[2].
I point this issues out because Debian aims to be LSB and FHS compliant, but
sometimes it makes more sense to do it slightly differently.
OTOH, the Debian policy drafts referenced are just that: drafts. So none of
the content is written in stone, so to speak.
The sections re /usr/share/xml and /usr/share/sgml state that the
directories 'docbook', 'mathml', '(x)html', and a few others are required,
yet in the listing [3] they are followed by '(optional)'. 'Seems a bit
inconsistent.
Perhaps we need to communicate/coordinate better in the future.
That's my $0.02.
Thanks,
Mark
[0] http://www.samba.org/~cyeoh/pub/fhs-2.3.html#ETCSGMLCONFIGURATIONFILESFORSGMLAN
[1] http://debian-xml-sgml.alioth.debian.org/xml-policy/xml-catalogs.html
[2] http://debian-xml-sgml.alioth.debian.org/sgml-policy/sgml-catalogs.html
[3] http://www.samba.org/~cyeoh/pub/fhs-2.3.html#USRSHARESGMLSGMLANDXMLDATA
--
_____________________________________
Mark Johnson <mark@dulug.duke.edu>
Debian XML/SGML <mrj@debian.org>
Home Page: <http://dulug.duke.edu/~mark/>
GPG fp: DBEA FA3C C46A 70B5 F120 568B 89D5 4F61 C07D E242
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