Subject: Re: Changing from /var/db/pkg
To: Curt Sampson <cjs@cynic.net>
From: Greg Troxel <gdt@ir.bbn.com>
List: tech-pkg
Date: 03/07/2005 12:50:36
Curt Sampson <cjs@cynic.net> writes:

> Well, to get at least one bit tied up, is there anybody who disagrees that
> we should move the default database directory to be under LOCALBASE?

Another benefit of being under LOCALBASE is that it will be possible
to use pkgsrc and FreeBSD ports (on FreeBSD) at the same time.  Last
time I looked into this, I gave up because I didn't want to totally
nuke the ports install before having pkgsrc working, and they both
wanted /var/db/pkg.

> If not, we need to figure out a) where it should go, and b) when to
> do it. I'm entirely open on question a, though I would tend to say
> ${LOCALBASE}/etc/pkgdb, since these are essentially configuration
> information about what's under LOCALBASE, just like, say, /etc/release.

My view is that /var/db/pkg is metadata, not configuration
information, so it not only doesn't belong in etc, but it doesn't
belong anyplace commingled with files managed by pkgsrc.  It should be
under LOCALBASE, though, so perhaps (assuming LOCALBASE=/usr/pkg)
/usr/pkg/pkgdata, with the notion that only pkgsrc metadata belongs
there.

An alternative is /usr/pkgdata, or in general ${LOCALBASE}data; this
is appealing since metadata and data are cleanly separated, but having
parallel/linked paths is icky, so I don't like this.

-- 
        Greg Troxel <gdt@ir.bbn.com>