Working with packages alot, I've noticed the commands are fairly similar
to filesystem commands -- ls and rm for instance -- and began to wonder if
it wouldn't be useful to relegate package manipulation to a filesystem
level.

Imagine for instance:
cd /pkg/system
ls (gives output of pkg_info)
cd ../prebuilt
cp pine ../system
cd /pkg/system/pine
ls (gives requirements for pine which you can cd into (it would be like
    an inverted tree)
more info
more packing_list
cd /pkg/src (behaves like normal)
rm -r /pkg/system/pine

I admit freely that I don't know the technicalities of the package system
or whether this idea would be feasible at all.  And of course it has
innumerable problems with it (e.g. what exactly does rm -r do?).  But, 
does anyone think this would be useful?
  
note, please respond to my address -- I'm not a member of tech-pkg.

Erich Enke
Wheaton College Science Division