Re: changing the default pkgdbdir used in bootstrap script

[David Holland <dholland-pkgtech%netbsd.org@localhost>]

On Thu, Nov 17, 2016 at 05:38:47PM +0000, Taylor R Campbell wrote:
 >    Hardly - the package database is exactly the kind of read/write
 >    metadata that belongs in /var. I have no objection if you want to put
 >    /var in /usr on your machine (or even if you want to go back to having
 >    /usr/adm) but it shouldn't be policy.
 > 
 > When do you ever modify the pkgdb when you're not also modifying
 > /usr/pkg or vice versa?
 > 
 > Two exceptions come to mind:
 > - pkg_admin set automatic=YES/NO
 > - editing /usr/pkg/etc
 > 
 > Neither of these seems compelling.

To me the argument is mostly about what kind of data it is, not when
it happens to be read-only. It's install-specific/system-specific
metadata that describes the current system state. Having it in /usr
instead of /var violates the POLA, just like going back to
/usr/adm/utmp would.

Ideally /var should be organized into subtrees like /usr is, so the
pkgsrc package database should be in /var/pkg/db/pkgdb by default (to
match /usr/pkg), but my understanding is that this doesn't work on
various systems that already have a /var/pkg for something else.

also too damn many packages don't honor VARBASE... someone(tm) should
take steps about that.

-- 
David A. Holland
dholland%netbsd.org@localhost