It would be nice to have one true package setup etc.
Actually it would be nice to have one true system setup.
This is a big win, when administering many hosts at many sites -
ideally everything except the core OS should look the same.

However some machines will be NFS servers some will be clients.

Some packages need to be replicated on all machines so that network
problems do not interfere with automagic admin processing.

Finally, some packages need to be available in single user mode.

I'm not sure that a single /usr/local/* can neatly accommodate all the
above. 

I saw a good talk recently that covered these issues and the the guy
and of course I can't recall the names.  They we all /opt/* though on
the argument that that's what SVR4 does with packages and since you
cannot change every SVR4 machine in the world - you might as well fit
the mould too.

Apart from the fact that /opt was initially a bit repulsive, and that
one of the tree's was named for the guy himself, the idea was very
good and one could clearly see how such a standard layout would cover
a wide range of needs from a single system to a large heterogeneous
network.

Wish I could remember the names though...

--sjg