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git-svn-id: svn://svn.linuxfromscratch.org/BLFS/trunk/BOOK@2592 af4574ff-66df-0310-9fd7-8a98e5e911e0
84 lines
3.8 KiB
XML
84 lines
3.8 KiB
XML
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
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<!DOCTYPE sect1 PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.3//EN"
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"http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.3/docbookx.dtd" [
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<!ENTITY % general-entities SYSTEM "../../general.ent">
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%general-entities;
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]>
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<sect1 id="intro-important-position">
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<sect1info>
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<othername>$LastChangedBy$</othername>
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<date>$Date$</date>
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</sect1info>
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<?dbhtml filename="position.html"?>
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<title>The /usr versus /usr/local debate</title>
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<para><emphasis>Should I install XXX in <filename>/usr</filename> or
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<filename>/usr/local</filename>?</emphasis></para>
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<para>This is a question without an obvious answer for an
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<acronym>LFS</acronym> based system.</para>
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<para>In traditional Unix systems, <filename>/usr</filename> usually
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contains files that come with the system distribution, and the <filename>
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/usr/local</filename> tree is free for the local administrator to add things
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to. The only really hard and fast rule is that Unix distributions should not
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touch <filename>/usr/local</filename>, except perhaps for creating the basic
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directories within it.</para>
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<para>With Linux distributions, like Red Hat, Debian etc. a possible rule is
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that <filename>/usr</filename> is managed by the distribution's
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package system and <filename>/usr/local</filename> is not. This way the
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package manager's database knows about every file within
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<filename>/usr</filename>.</para>
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<para><acronym>LFS</acronym> users build their own system and so deciding where
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the system ends and local files begin is not straightforward. So the choice
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should be made in order to make things easier to administer. There are several
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reasons for dividing files between <filename>/usr</filename> and
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<filename>/usr/local</filename>.</para>
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<itemizedlist>
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<listitem><para>On a network of several machines all running <acronym>LFS</acronym>,
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or mixed <acronym>LFS</acronym> and other Linux distributions,
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<filename>/usr/local</filename> could be used to hold packages
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that are common between all the computers in the network. It can be
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<acronym>NFS</acronym> mounted or mirrored from a single server. Here local
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indicates local to the site.</para></listitem>
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<listitem><para>On a network of several computers all running an identical
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<acronym>LFS</acronym> system <filename>/usr/local</filename> could hold
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packages that are different between the machines. In this case local refers
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to the individual computers.</para></listitem>
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<listitem><para>Even on a single computer <filename>/usr/local</filename> can
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be useful if you have several distributions installed simultaneously, and want
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a place to put packages that will be the same on all of them.</para></listitem>
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<listitem><para>Or you might regularly rebuild your <acronym>LFS</acronym>, but
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want a place to put files that you don't want to rebuild each time. This way
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you can wipe the <acronym>LFS</acronym> file system and start from a clean
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partition every time without losing everything.</para></listitem>
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</itemizedlist>
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<para>Some people ask why not use your own directory tree, e.g., <filename>
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/usr/site</filename>, rather than <filename>/usr/local</filename>?</para>
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<para>There is nothing stopping you, many sites do make their own trees,
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however it makes installing new software more difficult. Automatic installers
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often look for dependencies in <filename>/usr</filename> and
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<filename>/usr/local</filename>, and if the file it is looking
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for is in <filename>/usr/site</filename> instead, the installer will
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probably fail unless you specifically tell it where to look.</para>
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<para><emphasis>What is the <acronym>BLFS</acronym> position on this?</emphasis>
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</para>
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<para>All of the <acronym>BLFS</acronym> instructions install programs in
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<filename>/usr</filename> with optional instructions to install into
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<filename>/opt</filename> for some specific packages.</para>
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</sect1>
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