Date: Sat, 06 Jul 2002 15:16:34 -0700 From: Terry Lambert <tlambert2@mindspring.com> To: Igor Sobrado <sobrado@string1.ciencias.uniovi.es> Cc: Dag-Erling Smorgrav <des@ofug.org>, arch@freebsd.org Subject: Re: software in /usr/contrib Message-ID: <3D276C42.67C25814@mindspring.com> References: <200207061709.g66H9UE00832@string1.ciencias.uniovi.es>
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Igor Sobrado wrote: > > Igor Sobrado <sobrado@string1.ciencias.uniovi.es> writes: > > > Moving some software in *strong evolution* (bzip, gzip, zip, Perl, > > > and Tcl/Tk) to /usr/contrib will be useful to avoid some problems > > > that we saw in the last years in other Unices like Solaris. A > > > description of some of those problems is in [bin/40222]. > > > > I don't understand what problem you are trying to solve. I believe when he says "in a strong evolution", he actually means "undergoing active developement". The problem he appears to be trying to solve is that these things tend to change very quickly, without any FreeBSD control over their size, shape, or direction. This was the initial justification for the removal of Perl in the based system, and the seed of the ongoing dicussion entitled "Removing perl in make world". Igor is saying that there are other tools which are obtained from thir parties which should also atl least be moved to "controib", if not banished from the system to a port/package. For some tools, this makes sense. For other tools, this is very dangerous... and here's why: FreeBSD has been steadily giving away control of base system components to third parties. Any time it takes a BSD verion of a program, such as "tar", and replaces it with a GNU or other vendor's equivalent, even if it's done for good reason, then it sets up a situation like the one Igor is concerned about. I think that he's right for some tools; they simply don't belong in the base system (e.g. "bzip2" is not in specified by POSIX or the Sinugle UNIX Specification). But for other things, where there is not a BSD equivalent, or where the BSD equivalent has been intentionally abandoned, it doesn't make sense. I don't claim to have a litmus test that would let you pick in every case; if this idea goes forward, it should be with caution. -- Terry To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-arch" in the body of the message
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