Date: Wed, 4 Jan 2012 01:16:06 -0500 (EST) From: Benjamin Kaduk <kaduk@MIT.EDU> To: Warren Block <wblock@wonkity.com> Cc: doc@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Deciphering a Porter's Handbook paragraph Message-ID: <alpine.GSO.1.10.1201040112450.882@multics.mit.edu> In-Reply-To: <alpine.BSF.2.00.1201031808450.17871@wonkity.com> References: <alpine.BSF.2.00.1201021540250.3841@wonkity.com> <alpine.GSO.1.10.1201030255130.882@multics.mit.edu> <alpine.BSF.2.00.1201031808450.17871@wonkity.com>
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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
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