Re: compile-time configuration, etc.

Stefan Karrmann <[email protected]> wrote:
> If the configuration files are part of the tar ball and if I repeatly
> run 'cd /package && tar xpf foo.tar' the configuration files are
> overwritten. If the user has edited these files his changes will be
> lost.

I think "don't do that" is an acceptable solution.  If you want to
re-unpack the tarball, save any changes you've made first.  It's the
same with patches.  It's the same with reinstalling your OS.  It's the
same with repartitioning your disks.

> If you want to use the directory '..' think of symlinks. The inode of ..
> is not aware of symlinks. Thus, you may use the wrong directory.

- There's no need to use ".."; everything can be done with the
  top-level package directory as the cwd.
- While it's good to support symlinks in certain situations where they
  are known to be useful (sharing, etc.), there's no need to support
  symlinks everywhere; e.g., it's entirely reasonable to require that
  compile/ itself be a real directory, not a symlink.  In that case,
  compile/.. will always work.


paul