distribution of package files in the filesystem
Most packages' files are scattered in the filesystem, mainly in
/usr/{bin,man,lib}. I don't like this approach; I prefer that
everything goes into one directory. We can put symlinks in standard
places to avoid path bloat if necessary.
The main reason for this is that we can export a whole package easily.
I have a concrete example: we have one or two printer servers, and
we'd like to print dvi files directly. However, we can't do it because
tex is only installed in the main disk server. The same happens to
emacs. It's difficult to export such packages because of their
"scattering". I can't simply mount /usr, because there's a local one.
I discussed this a long time ago with Daniel Quinlan concerning emacs.
He said that this is the way people prefer. I partly agree in the case
of emacs, but not at all for other packages like tex, samba, etc.
Notice also that X is already done in the "right" (ie. mine :-) ) way.
It permits me to use X on machine without enough disk for it.
Carlos
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