Re: GNUstep directory layout

[Dennis Leeuw]

Tim Harrison wrote:

> Dennis Leeuw wrote:
>
> > That might be an option too. But I don't see any argument for not moving
> > DocumentTemplates into the Documentation directory. I guess Documentation 
> > and
> > Documentation/Templates is clearer, then Documentation and 
> > DocumentTemplates on
> > the same level. Next to that document templates are actual documents, but I
> > think I said that before... ;-)
>
> As I mentioned in my previous message, the $/Documentation directory is
> where documentation lives, not just "documents".  A letter I'm writing
> to my friend in Toronto is a document, but it shouldn't be stored in the
> /Documentation directory.  The file AutoDocTemplate.gsdoc is a document,
> in one way, but it is not *Documentation*.  If there was a man page, or
> an html file, or somesuch that described how the AutoDocTemplate.gsdoc
> template worked, *that* I would expect to find in the $/Documentation
> directory.

Guess we can setup a very lengthy discussion about what is and what isn't
documentation and where the boundary of the definition of documentation lies. We
probably never gonna agree.
Where we seem to agree is on the naming convention: DocumentTemplates.
Let's keep it with that. In the end it doesn't matter where things reside as 
long as
it is in a standard and a logical way.


> Doc[ument]Templates should most likely reside in a /Templates directory
> ($/Library/Templates?), where one could find templates for all manners
> of things on the system
>
> > So I guess we agree on this. The should be a /Local/Users (nor argueing on 
> > the
> > amount of accounts that should be present there) and /Network should be kept
> > clean so a sysadmin can decide how to populate /Network.
>
> Actually, I may not have been as clear as I could have been.  We
> *disagree* on the /Local/Users scenario.  I believe that /Users, or, on
> an existing non-GNUstep-integrated system, /home should be the location
> of users who are local to the box.

I think the NeXT idea was to sort things in a fashion that it was clear what was
coming from where.
/System -> NeXT
/Local -> Sysadmin
/Local/Users/<user> -> The user
/Network -> another host on the network

Just my 2 cents


>
> /Network should definitely be kept clean, but it sounds like you propose
> removing everything from there.  If the admin wishes to modify
> directories within /Network, would that not require patching GNUstep?  I
> would rather see the /Network/Servers, /Network/Users, and
> /Network/Applications remain "official" until a better way for managing
> NFS mounted GNUstep applications or user directories could be found.

And THAT is why I want it to be clean. As long as there is no good solution, 
don't
provide a semi-solution, which will eventually clash with the solution you find.


> > Yep. I understand the confusion. But I am afraight that Servers will add to 
> > this
> > confusion, when is something a server. is X11 a server or is it a client. A
> > Tool, a App or a Server.
>
> Well, I see X11 as a server, and the applications that run on that
> server as clients.  Hence the common monikers of "X server" and "X
> client".  To me, a server provides access to data, while a tool is used
> to gain access to data, or to modify data.  One gives, and one receives
> or manipulates on behalf of the user.

hmm, what about a database server. You use it to gain access to data...
Maybe it is a bit too easy but you get the picture.... (I hope)


> > The split between App and Tool is not a clear one but gives the user an idea
> > what he might expect and probably what is expected from him/her. For Tools 
> > he
> > needs to get to the console, for Apps he can say in his save graphical
> > interface. It's all about user perspective, not if it is technically or
> > syntactically right.
>
> The problem with perspective is that everyone has one. :)  If we name or
> organise things by perspective, no one will agree, I'm sure. :)

I think me should keep the user in mind. Or is GNUstep written for the writers?


>
> To throw an OS X wrench into the works, there's also "utilities".  This
> is an organisational grouping under the Applications directory in OS X,
> where things like Disk Copy, CPU Monitor, and Audio MIDI Setup reside
> (can you tell I'm casting a glance at my Jaguar box? ;))

I think we should only "steal" what helps us, not what brings us further 
away... :)

Dennis