categories of files (was Re: Software installation opinions needed)

[Peter da Silva]

In article <1990Oct02.183010.23173 at chinet.chi.il.us> les at chinet.chi.il.us (Leslie Mikesell) writes:
> In article <9-26933 at xds13.ferranti.com> peter at ficc.ferranti.com (Peter da Silva) writes:
> >> [when upgrading the system]. How do you tell which
> >> pieces belong to which package, and in what order to reconstruct
> >> things?  

> >You run the package's remove script (built at install time, so it knows the
> >configuration), remove it, and re-install after the upgrade.

> I've tried that, and often the remove script would remove all traces of
> the package, including the things I had spent a few months configuring
> exactly the way I wanted.

So save the configuation files off yourself. We do that, but the apps
people seem quite happy to write the configuration down and do it by hand
all over again. 

Package vendors: provide a simple text file for config data, and document
it!

> Things have gotten better recently, but I still don't trust scripts that
> offer to remove my files.  I just wish that there were standard places
> for the set-up files with provisions for installed base copies, network
> wide copies, local system copies and per-user copies.

A-men. At least on System V there's a standard place for init scripts, and
some packages do their customisation there.
-- 
Peter da Silva.   `-_-'
+1 713 274 5180.   'U`
peter at ferranti.com