Re: GNUSTEP_INSTALLATION_DOMAIN

[Richard Frith-Macdonald]

On 9 Oct 2006, at 23:09, Nicola Pero wrote:

> > This option can only be set on the command line, or before including
> > common.make ...
> > but using it in GNUmakefiles should be discouraged as all packages  
> > should
> > install by default in the default locations ... except for maybe
> gnustep-base :-)
>
> Thinking about it, I wouldn't want even gnustep-base to set it.
>
> If I'm testing the Unix filesystem layout, I wouldn't want gnustep- 
> base to
> install
> stuff in /usr ... ;-)
>
> It should be installed in /usr/local (or wherever we decide the local
> stuff goes)
> unless I explicitly require it to go in /usr. ;-)
>
> Comments ?

Long established policy is that on a GNUstep system (ie the default  
situation, where we are not trying to conform to FHS or some other  
distribution dependent layout), the GNUstep packages (anything part  
of the GNUstep project) should be installed in the system domain,  
while contributed packages should be installed in the local domain,  
and a user's own packages (ie not put in place for everyone by the  
system administrator) go in the user domain.

At the moment this is done automatically for GNUstep packages (such  
as base, gui, back, gorm) by their setting the installation directory  
in the makefile.

Now, I understand the logic that distributors should determine where  
the packages they want go ... so certainly there is no debate about  
the fact that setting GNUSTEP_INSTALLATION_DOMAIN on the command line  
should override any settiing in the make files.

However, I'm not sure that we should be changing the makefiles so  
that their behavior is no longer to install in their normal locations.
I think we have not thought through installation adequately, and I'm  
very dubious about changing current behavior to something which is  
not clearly thought through and better than the existing behavior ...  
change for the sake of change is generally a bad thing.

Let's try and decide what would be an improvement over the current  
behavior.

What should 'make install' actually do?

1. A developer working on a new package normally wants it installed  
where it won't interfere with anyone else ...
Clearly installation should be in the User domain.

2. A normal user presumably expects it to change the package to be in  
a runnable/usable state
On GNUstep and MacOS-X systems, this probably means installing into  
the user domain
On non-GNUstep systems, it's far less clear ... there is no standard  
location where user specific binaries may be found, and usual  
behavior is to install into the Local domain, but that generally  
requires root privilege or something similar.

3. A system administrator wants it to be installed for all users ...
This means installation in the Local domain, unless they are  
upgrading part of a distribution where GNUstep is 'native', in which  
case they want GNustep packages in the System domain

4. I think standard expectation is that 'make install' installs the  
package wherever it was configured to go ... ie the decision about  
where to install was taken at 'configure' time using something like -- 
prefix= and if this is not specified then the installation location  
is decided by the package itsself (normally the 'local' domain).


So, how about this for an idea ...

The make scripts are made more intelligent and capable of asking the  
user what to do if they try to install in a domain they don't have  
access to (maybe using su to complete the installation if given the  
correct password).  This is important for unprivileged users trying  
to install packages where the installation location is the system or  
local domain.

The make scripts also interpret the installation domain according to  
the filesystem layout ... so if a package wants to be installed in  
the system domain on a system where non-native stuff has to go in / 
opt, (ie the local domain) then the filesystem layout configured into  
gnustep-make should override the domain specified (ie on such systems  
the system domain is the same as the local domain for purposes of  
installing software).

a. the default installation location is the local domain
b. a makefile may override that to supply a package specific default
c. the command line overrides that.