From owner-cvs-all Tue Dec 1 19:15:02 1998 Return-Path: Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.8/8.8.8) id TAA27215 for cvs-all-outgoing; Tue, 1 Dec 1998 19:15:02 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from owner-cvs-all@FreeBSD.ORG) Received: from dingo.cdrom.com (ppp3.portal.net.au [202.12.71.103]) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.8/8.8.8) with ESMTP id TAA27204 for ; Tue, 1 Dec 1998 19:14:58 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from mike@dingo.cdrom.com) Received: from dingo.cdrom.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by dingo.cdrom.com (8.9.1/8.8.8) with ESMTP id TAA02182; Tue, 1 Dec 1998 19:12:53 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from mike@dingo.cdrom.com) Message-Id: <199812020312.TAA02182@dingo.cdrom.com> X-Mailer: exmh version 2.0.2 2/24/98 To: Luoqi Chen cc: mike@smith.net.au, committers@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: full path of sysctl in bsd.port.mk? In-reply-to: Your message of "Tue, 01 Dec 1998 20:18:58 EST." <199812020118.UAA29476@lor.watermarkgroup.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Date: Tue, 01 Dec 1998 19:12:51 -0800 From: Mike Smith Sender: owner-cvs-all@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk > > > Usually I build ports as a regular user (only install them as root), so sysctl > > > is not in my path and the build fails with the message, > > > > > > sysctl: not found > > > "/usr/share/mk/bsd.port.mk", line 410: warning: "sysctl -n kern.osreldate" returned non-zero status > > > > > > Can we specify the full path name of sysctl in bsd.port.mk? > > > > Sysctl should be in your path; it's a general-purpose enquiry tool. > > > It's in /sbin and I don't include it in my path as a non-root user. Isn't > it a unix convention that system binaries (/sbin /usr/sbin) are included only > in superuser's path? Most of them require root priviledge anyway. For the few > that I do use frequently as a regular user (e.g. ping, traceroute), I have > aliases for them in my shell's setup. >From hier(7): /sbin/ system programs and administration utilities fundamental to both single-user and multi-user environments sysctl is a system program fundamental to both single-user and multi-user environments. It's a popular misconception that */sbin contains administrator-only programs; one that is popular amongst the sort of admins that like to keep their users as much in the dark as possible. As the general interacive interface to the system MIB, sysctl definitely belongs in /sbin. In regard to your point about having the full path to sysctl in bsd.port.mk, I'm inclined to agree that for robustness' sake you're right. -- \\ Sometimes you're ahead, \\ Mike Smith \\ sometimes you're behind. \\ mike@smith.net.au \\ The race is long, and in the \\ msmith@freebsd.org \\ end it's only with yourself. \\ msmith@cdrom.com To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe cvs-all" in the body of the message