On Sunday 04 May 2003 11:57 am, SpencerUnderground wrote:
> How odd.  That is one of the things I don't like about OSX, its file
> structure.  Is there some particlual reason you want to do this?  Or is
> it the reason why I find myself doing silly things. BECAUSE I CAN. hehe
	Ok, I shouldn't have said anything about OSX. That's a sure-fire way of 
getting knee-jerk reactions ("If you like OSX so much, why doncha use it, ya 
weenie?") and otherwise intelligent people are reduced to flaming idiots. But 
your suggestion was right on the money: because I can (or rather, could). 
Because after using Linux as my one and only desktop for 4+ years, I'm left 
wondering if maybe a thirty year old file system is not the best way of 
organizing things. Sure, back in the old days, things were kept short because 
you had to type everything in, but in these modern days of GUIs and 
tab-completion, it makes sense to re-evaluate how things are done. 
	One complaint I have is that there are too many choices for where things can 
go. Where are _your_ system-wide Mozilla plugins? They can go in:
	/usr/share/plugins
	/usr/share/netscape/plugins
	/usr/share/mozilla/plugins
	/usr/lib/mozilla/plugins
	/usr/lib/mozilla/1.3a/plugins
	/usr/lib/mozilla/1.3/plugins
	/opt/netscape/plugins
	/opt/mozilla/plugins
	/usr/local/mozilla/plugins 
	...ad naseum...
	Or then there's poor /usr/bin: on my box there are 2169 files and symlinks in 
it. (My wife has infected me with the urge to sort, organize, arrange, tuck, 
and straighten. I used to be a very messy bachelor. :) The Linux Filesystem 
Standard seems to try to reduce this with /opt, but this only confuses 
issues. We already have /usr/X11R6/bin, why not further subdivide things?
	Of course, it would be tempting to have /Programs/KDE/Office/kword, but if I 
understand the issue correctly, having many directories in $PATH tends to 
slow it down. But on the other hand, I wouldn't ordinarily expect to call 
kword from the command line. $PATH could be reserved for programs that run in 
a terminal, while GUI programs are loaded either by an icon or by 
'/P{tab}K{tab}O{tab}kword'. Or, alternately, improve the shells so that they 
don't stall on long $PATH arguments. That way, everybody is happy: a more 
organized file system, a better-running shell, and one-word commands for 
those who insist on calling GUI programs from a terminal. 
	Hmm...just found the GNUStep Filesystem Hierarchy at 
http://www.gnustep.org/resources/documentation/filesystem.ps. How does this 
compare to OSX and BeOS?

> As far as the logisistics of doing this...  I suspect it will be less
> than simple.  However, I have never tried such a task, so I really don't
> know.  Well, at least not if you want to do things like use a package
> manager to install/update packages, or remembering to set all the
> --prefix and such lines correctly when you compile new software.
	Yes, I'm afraid that you're probably right. Maybe someday, when I have more 
time and broader bandwidth, I could play around with Linux From Scratch and 
see if it is possible. 

> I bet it will keep you busy though. :)
	I'll put it on my todo list for rainy days. :)
	:Peter
-- 
Oh what a tangled web they weave who try a new word to conceive!

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