Subject: Re: Notes and Thoughs on System Packages
To: Curt Sampson <cjs@portal.ca>
From: Todd Vierling <tv@pobox.com>
List: tech-pkg
Date: 09/23/1998 17:00:00
On Wed, 23 Sep 1998, Curt Sampson wrote:

: > An even worse idea is trying to install anything but the "diskless base
: > package" on a diskless client.  Wanting to do do is also, IMNSHO, a
: > bogus requirement.  Even trying to "upgrade" a client from the client is
: > silly -- just do it on the damn server and be done with it.
: 
: So you're saying we have to port pkg_add to every system out there
: that does NFS? Who's going to do the NT port?

I tend to disagree with Greg's absolutism in the statement above, but agree
with the sentiment.  More generalized:

Anyone trying to admin shared partitions on more than one system while
fooling with base system binaries "deserves to lose."  It's way too prone to
error, and people tend to share the wirdest pieces of the tree (not always
just /usr).

Sure, you can admin from one client if the server isn't the same OS, but you
need to admin from _that_ client, or otherwise only work with files that
restrict themselves to the shared filesystem - the latter of which is not
possible for base binaries.

-- 
-- Todd Vierling (Personal tv@pobox.com; Bus. todd_vierling@xn.xerox.com)