by <snip>
Symbolic links are an additional level of indirection, and require theQuote:> I have built my strategy over the years of
> using /opt as the default and making /usr/local/bin only have links in it,
> so that you can put it in your exec $PATH. I have spent a long time learning
> autoconf so that the packages get installed and configured where I want
> them. I believe my system has a lot of merit as you can automatically
> see what packages are installed by cd'ing to /opt and you know that
> the config file for a certain package is going to be right where
> you expect it, instead of having to mill about looking for the right
> file in amongst 300 others.
> What do the rest of you think?
> I really think munging everything into /usr/local/ is a bad way of doing
> things (maybe OK for old SunOS4) and don't want to step back into the
> dark and mess up my very modularly set up systems. Right now
> I can pull an /opt/ disk off any computer and transfer it to another
> and only have to make a couple of changes. The other way, it becomes
> a bit of a kludge and a mess to manage.
> If symlinks do not pose a performance threat, there's no reason why I should
> change, right?
system to resolve the name given in the link.
Thus, they are more expensive than using the name directly.
This added expense is so minute compared to loading the program (as it
is this you'd be speeding up by not using symlinks), that it does not
warrant the mess you'd create by whacking everything into /usr/local.
By all means keep each package in a separate directory, and tell those
concerned by the sub-millisecond difference in load time to call the
program directly.
If you've got problems convincing the reorganizers, ask them to provide
benchmarks that show that their approach will significantly improve
throughput. I doubt they'll be able to come up with the proof, but if
they can, you'll be less frustrated doing the changes.
As D J Bernstein says: measure, don't speculate.
Take care,
--
Stefaan
--
Ninety-Ninety Rule of Project Schedules:
The first ninety percent of the task takes ninety percent of
the time, and the last ten percent takes the other ninety percent.