Re: Safer package installation

[" Raymond A. Ingles" <inglesra@frc.com>]

On 7 Apr 1997, Alair Pereira do Lago wrote:

> " Raymond A. Ingles" <inglesra@frc.com> writes:
> 
> >  Installed packages go to a specific place in the file hierarchy, e.g.
> > "/usr/packages/<package-name>/". There's "/usr/packages/<name>/lib/",
> > "/usr/packages/<name>/bin/", etc. A script then makes symlinks from, say,
> > "/usr/lib/<file-name>" to "/usr/packages/<package-name>/lib/<file-name>".
> 
> What about performance?  I don't think a system full of symlinks would be so
> fast.

 There would be performance hit, technically, but it should be genuinely 
negligible. It will only appear as the file is opened, as the system 
resolves the link. I'm willing to bet that the shift from a.out to ELF 
would cause more noticeable performance changes.

 Sincerely,

 Ray Ingles               (810)377-7735             inglesra@frc.com

  Modern deductive method: 1) Devise hypothesis. 2) Apply for grant.
  3) Perform experiments. 4) Revise hypothesis. 5) Backdate revised
                      hypothesis. 6) Publish.