Re: proposal : remove hostname from coreutils

[Gabriel Barazer]

On 07/23/2007 2:59:55 PM +0200, Jim Meyering <address@hidden> wrote:
> Gabriel Barazer <address@hidden> wrote:
> > The "hostname" utility in coreutils-6.9 is still a very old version,
> > and the "hostname" from net-tools 1.60 (released ~2001) is a better
> > featured utility. Since net-tools doesn't seem to be maintained
> > anymore, what about updating the "hostname" sources from coreutils, or
> > simply remove it ? It would avoid duplicate tools, since we can't even
> > disable its compilation at configure time.
>
> Ah, but now you can -- at least with the latest sources from git.
> I expect to add it to the list (currently arch,su) of programs *not*
> built by default.

Great ! Thanks. In fact, I had the same problem with "kill" and "uptime" 
(better version in procps), and "su" (better in shadow). This tool 
duplication between packages is really a PITA, the manual override for 
building selected tools is a very convenient workaround, but I think it 
should not be "permanent" : some packages need to be re-maintained or 
merged to avoid theses duplications.

Another thought : Several tools from coreutils need to be installed in 
/bin according to the FHS. Is it planned to have an option like 
"--with-root-prefix=[DESTDIR]" to install these tools directly in 
[DESTDIR]/bin ? This would avoid manually moving the tools to their 
right place.

BTW, Is there already a date for release of coreutils-6.10 ?

Thanks,

Gabriel