Subject: Problems with etc outside /usr/pkg
To: None <tech-pkg@netbsd.org>
From: Julio Merino <jmmv@hispabsd.org>
List: tech-pkg
Date: 05/22/2002 13:49:52
Hi all

continuing my previous thread, I've started reinstalling and fixing packages
that currently use (and only use) /usr/pkg/etc. I've fixed some of them
fine, but I'm having problems with others.

First problem is when pkgsrc creates default directories. I've seen that
mtree always creates etc and etc/rc.d, without noticing if it's outside
/usr/pkg or not. Well, this problem is minor as both directories can stay
empty, but it is a problem because it does not create them if
PKG_SYSCONFBASE is set to anywhere else.

The other problem, and worst, is about PLIST files and the like. For
example, while compiling gtk, it installs LOTS of files under
/usr/pkg/etc/gtk. I've been looking for a simple way to change this, but
it's not that easy. configure supports the --sysconfdir argument; well,
I though, I can ask it to install files under PKG_SYSCONFDIR. But that's
wrong, as PLIST can't reference those files, and tgz packages won't
contain them, so causing problems with the pkg. I also though to set up
--sysconfdir to some temporary directory (examples under share), but this
brings another problem. Gtk will be compiled with references to those
files, thus copying them later to etc is non-sense. I've come across with
the same problem with windowmaker.

Samba also suffers something like this. It tries to install (after fixing
the Makefile to use PKG_SYSCONFBASE) three scripts under rc.d and, guess
what, as the directory is not yet created it fails. I've the same problem
with the PLIST. Though, I saw a variable, CONF_FILES, that I thought could
be useful, but I'm having some trouble with it.

Maybe the way to get all this working is to create some INSTALL/UNINSTALL
script that places things into their directory... but I'm not sure. How
should this be done?

So, any idea about what to do? (maybe pkgsrc needs some fixes itself?)

Thank you.

--=20
Of course it runs NetBSD - http://www.netbsd.org
HispaBSD member - http://www.hispabsd.org
Julio Merino <jmmv@hispabsd.org>