From owner-freebsd-doc@FreeBSD.ORG Wed Jan 4 06:16:10 2012 Return-Path: Delivered-To: doc@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 6FE021065670 for ; Wed, 4 Jan 2012 06:16:10 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from kaduk@mit.edu) Received: from dmz-mailsec-scanner-1.mit.edu (DMZ-MAILSEC-SCANNER-1.MIT.EDU [18.9.25.12]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 090288FC14 for ; Wed, 4 Jan 2012 06:16:09 +0000 (UTC) X-AuditID: 1209190c-b7fad6d000000920-eb-4f03eea8b9a9 Received: from mailhub-auth-4.mit.edu ( [18.7.62.39]) by dmz-mailsec-scanner-1.mit.edu (Symantec Messaging Gateway) with SMTP id 1D.1D.02336.8AEE30F4; Wed, 4 Jan 2012 01:16:09 -0500 (EST) Received: from outgoing.mit.edu (OUTGOING-AUTH.MIT.EDU [18.7.22.103]) by mailhub-auth-4.mit.edu (8.13.8/8.9.2) with ESMTP id q046G8hW016569; Wed, 4 Jan 2012 01:16:08 -0500 Received: from multics.mit.edu (MULTICS.MIT.EDU [18.187.1.73]) (authenticated bits=56) (User authenticated as kaduk@ATHENA.MIT.EDU) by outgoing.mit.edu (8.13.6/8.12.4) with ESMTP id q046G6Rm026724 (version=TLSv1/SSLv3 cipher=DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA bits=256 verify=NOT); Wed, 4 Jan 2012 01:16:08 -0500 (EST) Received: (from kaduk@localhost) by multics.mit.edu (8.12.9.20060308) id q046G63B006418; Wed, 4 Jan 2012 01:16:06 -0500 (EST) Date: Wed, 4 Jan 2012 01:16:06 -0500 (EST) From: Benjamin Kaduk To: Warren Block In-Reply-To: Message-ID: References: User-Agent: Alpine 1.10 (GSO 962 2008-03-14) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed X-Brightmail-Tracker: H4sIAAAAAAAAA+NgFnrGIsWRmVeSWpSXmKPExsUixG6nrrvyHbO/Qe9GZoupH3eyWvw65eHA 5DHj03wWjyMdjxgDmKK4bFJSczLLUov07RK4Mv5cOsJW8EGgYv3lwAbGDbxdjJwcEgImEvN/ /WCHsMUkLtxbzwZiCwnsY5TYuKami5ELyF7PKHF92yEWCGc/k8SNS0dZIarqJSbNaWQEsVkE tCT23rwEZrMJqEjMfLMRaBIHh4iAqsTeM9YgYWYBYYnTl+4ygoSFBcwk/p6PBTE5BewkLn0R ATF5Bewlvi8PgZi9iFFixwRJEFtUQEdi9f4pLCA2r4CgxMmZT1ggBlpKnPtznW0Co+AsJKlZ SFILGJlWMcqm5Fbp5iZm5hSnJusWJyfm5aUW6Rrq5WaW6KWmlG5iBAUnpyTPDsY3B5UOMQpw MCrx8P7awuwvxJpYVlyZe4hRkoNJSZTX9Q1QiC8pP6UyI7E4I76oNCe1+BCjBAezkgjvUlWg HG9KYmVValE+TEqag0VJnFdF652fkEB6YklqdmpqQWoRTFaGg0NJgvftW6BGwaLU9NSKtMyc EoQ0EwcnyHAeoOHC70CGFxck5hZnpkPkTzEqSonzfgJpFgBJZJTmwfXCkscrRnGgV4R534BU 8QATD1z3K6DBTECDd2wHG1ySiJCSamDMWdulUjjd7bxHynwlT48s++QyyVjTF6Wsh46v15u/ LLr7KYucnNYXt7Yr8btXhjWrqxwRmsbE1VHnPW3DzoXuC+PXHj5Tdz09r2hWUZD6pwW7vjfN 9QnXy5iocsenKOP6qU0Ha3h93pqYl8yuWXi0jLdFRbuxYe+zzhcbb1lfTLbXZYzTm67EUpyR aKjFXFScCAC4m9WX+QIAAA== Cc: doc@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Deciphering a Porter's Handbook paragraph X-BeenThere: freebsd-doc@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: Documentation project List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 04 Jan 2012 06:16:10 -0000 On Tue, 3 Jan 2012, Warren Block wrote: > On Tue, 3 Jan 2012, Benjamin Kaduk wrote: > >> I don't think we've yet said something like: >> LOCALBASE should be set to where existing ports have already been installed >> (the ``base directory'' of where the ``local additions'' to the system have >> been made); it is uncommon for having PREFIX != LOCALBASE in normal usage. >> We probably should say something like that. > > ISWYM, but am going to delay on that for a bit to try to address the existing > problems before adding information. > > The more I looked at section 9.4, the more I wanted to rework it. Here is the > original: > http://www.wonkity.com/~wblock/porters-handbook-orig/book.html#PORTING-PREFIX > > Here is a first pass at some improvements: > http://www.wonkity.com/~wblock/porters-prefix/book.html#PORTING-PREFIX Sure seems like an improvement, but it's easier to compare in the form of a diff, I think. > > I removed the reference to LOCALBASE sometimes being /opt. Maybe it is, but > that's covered under the "custom path". Fine by me; people who want to use /opt almost certainly already know about /opt ... > > There are also the references to /usr/X11R6 and imake. Are those still > relevant? /usr/X11R6 is dead. devel/imake still exists, so I wouldn't be surprised if some ports used it. > > Then there's this: > > The variable PREFIX can be reassigned in your Makefile or in the > user's environment. However, it is strongly discouraged for > individual ports to set the variable explicitly in the Makefiles. > > "You absolutely should not press this big shiny button right here." > Or is that trying to say you can set PREFIX in make.conf or as an environment > variable, but don't set it in the *port's* Makefile? > Instead: > > PREFIX should not be set explicitly in a port's Makefile. Users > installing the port may have reassigned PREFIX, and the port should > respect that. That's my understanding. PREFIX does seem more like a make.conf thing than a command-line thing, to me, so it might be worth mentioning make.conf explicitly. -Ben