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From: karl@rice-chex.ai.mit.edu (Karl Berry)
Newsgroups: comp.windows.x
Subject: Re: Alternative installation directories for X11R4
Message-ID: <13529@life.ai.mit.edu>
Date: 25 Feb 91 00:54:55 GMT
References: <32602@sequoia.execu.com> <3036@laura.UUCP>
Sender: news@ai.mit.edu
Reply-To: karl@cs.umb.edu
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In-reply-to: klute@tommy.informatik.uni-dortmund.de's message of 22 Feb 91 08:13:27 GMT

It is possible to install into directories beneath /usr/local (or
wherever), and avoid symbolic links or other hacks altogether.  I
defined UsrLibDir, IncRoot, and BinDir in mit/config/site.def.  The
ERRATA sheet also specifies several changes to make (items #1 and 2).

The place I use symbolic links is to share the include files,
app-defaults files, man pages, etc., between architectures.


End of technical information, beginning of opinion:

Personally, I think the X documentation makes too big a fuss about
leaving the default paths as they are and setting symbolic links, even
forgetting about those systems which don't have symlinks.  Granted, X is
a large and important software package for a system to have.  But it is
not the only large and important software package.  It would be a system
administrator's nightmare if TeX, Emacs, Ingres, RCS, etc., etc., all
insisted on their own favorite paths.  (At least it's possible to
install X in other places; I'm told that the Interleaf publishing system
*requires* a directory /interleaf to work.  Now that's chutzpah.)

karl@cs.umb.edu