apache2 location

[Scott Haneda]

On Feb 24, 2009, at 3:31 PM, Chris Janton wrote:
> On 2009-02-24 , at 15:35 , Scott Haneda wrote:
>
>> My feeling is, the sooner the better, there are already a handful  
>> of blogs out there, which instructions and hard paths in their  
>> instructions pointing to the current location.  The sooner we put  
>> it where MacPorts recommends, the better the long term usability is  
>> going to be.
>
> how about leaving it where it has been for years? I suspect many  
> people who use the port have become "attached" to the current  
> location, including me.

I suspect that as well, which is why I was asking. I believe it should  
be moved, and if you are so inclined, you can symblink to the old  
location.

> Do a Google search on "/opt/apache2" and you'll see that the choice  
> of /opt/local/apache2 is perfectly sensible when compared to where  
> other "systems" put the application and files.

Correct, I noticed that as well, but it is contrary to the docs, which  
I am reading, and trying to understand.  I am trying to work on  
several ports to add to MacPorts, and I want to do things the right  
way, not just the way everyone has gotten used to.

> Is there a compelling reason to put it somewhere else?

Warning: portname requests to install files outside the common  
directory structure!
( That to me sound serious, ominous, and something we should strive to  
solve for new users )

It generates an error, which is something people have to learn to  
ignore or research about why the error happened.  For a user who is  
not a port contributor, this error is off putting to them.

It happened to me, I installed mysql devel, saw the error, and had to  
track it down, to learn that the sql bench files are put in /opt/local

Now I know what the error is about.  There are a lot of people I try  
to get to use ports, and they all tell me they tried in the past but  
could not get past errors, maybe this is one of those issues.

 From the docs, this is open to new user interpretation, and could be  
very off putting:

MacPorts tests for compliance to the common directory structure in $ 
{prefix}. If a port is not compliant with the standard, set it to yes.

You can find the macports standard in MacPorts File Hierarchy or in  
the porthier(7) man page.

If destroot.violate_mtree is set to yes, the following warning is  
issued during the installation.

Warning: portname requests to install files outside the common  
directory structure!
This means that the port installed files outside of their normal  
locations in ${prefix}. These could be files totally outside of $ 
{prefix}, which could cause problems on your computer, or files inside  
of ${prefix} that are not in a standard location. Use port contents  
portname to see the location for all files that were installed by a  
given port.

My vote is to fix it, those who tend to like the old location, spend  
time in it, and can symblink it.
--
Scott