Re: installation domains

[Nicola Pero]

> Tentative policy and development proposals ...

Thanks - here is the tentative policy I was thinking of (we can  
presumably merge the two in some way to move forward) from
the suggestions that have been put forward --

1. we install by default gnustep-make (and hence, GNUstep) into /usr/ 
local/GNUstep instead of /usr/GNUstep.  To avoid
breaking things too much, we could detect if there is already an  
installation in /usr/GNUstep and in that case print a big
warning and explain that you need to use --prefix=/usr/GNUstep to get  
the old behaviour.

2. we add an option to gnustep-make's ./configure to install gnustep- 
config, openapp and opentool in a different directory
(if nothing's specified, we install them into SYSTEM_TOOLS as we do now)

3. we change gnustep-make's configure to print out some useful message  
on the chosen filesystem layout (and how to use it)
at the end

4. we add support in gnustep-make for a new variable, something like  
GNUSTEP_CORE_PACKAGE=YES, which
causes it to install into System by default, instead of Local

5. we add a new option to gnustep-make's ./configure, something like ./ 
configure --install-core-packages-into=local,
which can be used to change where stuff with GNUSTEP_CORE_PACKAGE=YES  
is installed by default.  We default
to System but suggest that packagers packaging gnustep-make change it  
to default to Local instead when shipping
gnustep-make

6. we do a gnustep-make release, then wait 6 months or so, then we  
change all GNUmakefiles in devmodules
that currently have GNUSTEP_INSTALLATION_DOMAIN=SYSTEM to instead have  
GNUSTEP_CORE_PACKAGE=YES

The only real visible change for people compiling everything from  
source would be 1., from /usr/GNUstep to /usr/local/GNUstep,
but the new ./configure options would allow packagers to ship a better  
setup.

Your tentative policy is much more aggressive ... in that it suggests  
moving to FHS by default.  I don't really have an opinion
on that - I'm happy to do it, but I'm also happy to keep our current  
GNUstep layout.  I think FHS will appeal to GNU/Linux users,
and the GNUstep layout will appeal to users from the Apple world.  Not  
sure who would be compiling from source the most. ;-)

More suggestions/comments welcome.

Thanks


> please enhance and then we can see if we can agree on the way forward.
>
> 1. We will move to FHS as the default layout for new installations
>
> 2. We will retain backward compatibility for existing installations  
> (at least for a year or two)
>
> To maintain backward compatibility, the current 'system'  
> applications will need to remain as such when installed into an  
> existing system.
>
> That means they need to carry on to have GNUSTEP_INSTALLATION_DOMAIN  
> defined as SYSTEM in their makefiles (or be changed to use another  
> name, but if we do that we need to synchronise the change with a  
> gnustep-make change, so it's probably easier to leave them unchanged).
>
> 3. gnustep-make needs to be changed to:
> a. continue to honor GNUSTEP_INSTALLATION_DOMAIN in the makefiles if  
> it is installing on an existing system using old-style locations.
> b. ignore GNUSTEP_INSTALLATION_DOMAIN in makefiles if it is  
> installing into a new system or a system already using a non-gnustep  
> style layout.
>
> 4. gnustep-make should probably also warn about the consequences of  
> the layout selected
>
> 5. documentation should be updated to use FHS style layout in all  
> examples.
>
> Does that cover it?
>
>
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