James K. Lowden [Thu, Nov 06, 2003 at 03:19:11AM -0500]:
> /usr/pkg/share/doc/<pkg>
> /usr/pkg/share/doc/html/<pkg>

Take postgresql for example.

It comes with just a few files (like README, FAQ, some config examples
installation notes) - such files go to /doc/.

But, when you install a whole bunch of HTML documentation files, that
describes PostgreSQL from user, programmer and administrator point of view -
PostgreSQL guide - such files go to /doc/html/

I don't think it's really a bad. On Debian it's quite the same, you
have directories like "postgresql" and "postgresql-doc" in such case.

> I'm probably missing some, but that's not the point.  What I want to know
> is, why on earth would any package's documentation be anywhere except
> /usr/pkg/share/?

Honestly, I'd rather like to see some utility (heck, let it be in basesystem
and let it be BSD-licensed), that would automatically index all available
documentation on my system, than spend time on correcting pkgsrc entries ;)

> My suggestion is that /usr/pkg/share hold the documentation in a tree
> mimicking /usr/pkgsrc.  IOW,

Doesn't sound reasonable. Why then whole /usr/pkg shouldn't mimic pkgsrc
tree? You could have /usr/pkg/ghostscript/bin|share|lib|doc... Doesn't look
too good, don't you think? 

I have once tried to create a simple packaging system, that kept all
packages in separate directories (eg. /prefix/packagename-packageversion).
Such files could be optionally linked (mapped) to a standard unix hierarchy
(eg. /differentprefix/lib|share|bin). Good thing was, that it allowed me to
use many different package versions at once. Bad thing was: it was
extremelly painful to make packages talk to each other in some cases.

Hmm. I suppose, that it would be easy to patch pkgsrc to act in such way
(just install to ${PREFIX}/${PKGNAME}), but I currently don't see any
benefits of such situations.

> we have 
> 	/usr/pkg/share/print/ghostscript

... and we have a bunch of directories in /usr/pkg/share (currently: about
50), which contain no directories or only a few. PostgreSQL doc path becomes
/usr/pkg/share/databases/postgresql/html, which is a bit longer (and harder
to find), than current /usr/pkg/share/doc/html/postgresql ;)

> One tree to hold the docs, one search to find them.  Less darkness, more
> light, say I.  
> Can we do this?  

Generally, I'd say "yes, go for it", but I am happy with things as they are
currently. It would also require more work sometimes when porting packages,
so - I'm extremely sorry, but you have my veto.

Regards,
-- 
Michal Pasternak :: http://pasternak.w.lub.pl