Date:        Mon, 22 May 2000 21:03:23 +0200
    From:        Manuel Bouyer <bouyer@antioche.lip6.fr>
    Message-ID:  <20000522210323.A206@antioche.eu.org>

  | /var is a separate file system, and can be quite large.

I have up to 5 or 6 /var filesystems (like /var /var/log /var/spool ...)
and they can be very large.

  | To have a backup of the system I need /var as well,

Absolutely, it is vital - perhaps next only to user files.  Given a /var/backup
in which all the files on / that routinely change can be copied (master.passwd
etc) it is certainly more important than backing up /

  | I think /var should
  | only contain log files or files that can be regenerated from the system.

Like /var/mail /var/spool/mqueue /var/db/dhcpd.leases ...

Really!  Sure, on any particular system, there may end up being nothing
in /var that matters (and changes).  Just as there might not be in / or
/home or ...  But attempting to move the one thing in there that prevents
that for you out of the standard system is not a rational process.  If you
want /var/db/pkg to be in /usr/pkg by all means symlink it to there, that isn't
difficult to do.   Personally, that's the last thing I want, I prefer to be
able to keep /usr/pkg shareable, but have /var/db/pkg only on the one system
that gets to install/delete/upgrade the packages (the one with the drive
usually).  The others don't need it (and that pkg_info doesn't work on those
systems doesn't bother me in the least).

If there is to be a discussion on where /var/db/pkg really belongs, please
let's keep it to well thought out principles, of generic appeal, rather
than "it would be nicer for me if...".   The ability to copy the whole
thing in one tar command might be one (though tar cf - usr/pkg var/db/pkg
is a fair counter proposal to that...)

kre