[Pkg-mailman-hackers] Bug#400005: Installs files in /var/lib/mailman in violation of FHS

Steve Langasek vorlon at debian.org
Sat Nov 25 00:06:02 UTC 2006


On Thu, Nov 23, 2006 at 01:41:08PM +0100, Lionel Elie Mamane wrote:
> (Bug is present up to and including 1:2.1.9-2.)

> Mailman installs architecture-independent program files not written
> except at install/upgrade time in /var/lib/mailman/pythonlib/email/
> . That's a gross violation of the FHS, which mandates /usr/ instead of
> /var/ .

I'm not sure I would call this a "gross violation" of the FHS, though I am
surprised to see these .py files in /var/lib given that mailman has other
.py files it's been shipping under /usr/lib forever.

> 1:2.1.9-3 will make it /usr/lib/mailman/pythonlib/email, which is
> still suboptimal (the non-compiled files should be in /usr/share,
> being architecture-independent), and may technically still be a
> violation,

I don't believe this is a violation of the FHS.  The release policy has
recently been updated to clarify precisely this.

> (the files are compiled at install/upgrade time; the compiled versions
> must be in /usr/lib; not sure there even _is_ a way to have sources
> and compiled versions separated in Python - if any Python expert can
> contradict me on that, please do!

With the recent python helpers, it's common practice to ship the .py files
under /usr/share, then symlink them to /var/lib for byte-compiling.

> but this has to be checked, and is doubtful, since /usr/lib/python2.4
> contains so many .py files).

Yes, because /usr/lib is where the python-defined include path is.  Shipping
arch-indep files under /usr/lib is acceptable in such circumstances;
shipping arch-dependent files under /usr/share would not...

Cheers,
-- 
Steve Langasek                   Give me a lever long enough and a Free OS
Debian Developer                   to set it on, and I can move the world.
vorlon at debian.org                                   http://www.debian.org/




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