[fuse-devel] fuse "make install" oddities...

[Paul S. <ps...@ne...>]

Hi all;

I can't find any info on the homepage, FAQ, README, etc. on where to
post bugs so I'm guessing I just send them here...?

I just downloaded and tried to install FUSE 2.6.0 with a DESTDIR set
(I'm actually trying to cross-compile it for an embedded target on a
different architecture).  Mostly it worked fine, but at the very end it
fails:

/usr/sbin/update-rc.d fuse start 34 S . start 41 0 6 .
update-rc.d: /etc/init.d/fuse: file does not exist
make[2]: *** [install-exec-local] Error 1

Obviously /etc/init.d/fuse doesn't exist, because I used DESTDIR to
install it somewhere else.

This code is in utils/Makefile.am:install-exec-local.  I really strongly
feel that a normal "make install" should NOT be running update-rc.d
commands to install links.  To me that violates the Principle of Least
Surprise.  In fact, installing the script into init.d in the first place
is unusual: for example, using an INIT_D_PATH which isn't based on
PREFIX seems odd to me, although I understand the reason for it.  I
think these kinds of oddities are why most autoconf packages don't try
to install startup scripts using their makefile targets, but rather
leave the installation of the startup to the packagers and their tools
(RPM, DPKG, etc.)  Consider Ubuntu Edgy (6.10) which is the beginning of
a migration away from SysV init altogether!  Or, in my setup, I'm using
BusyBox and don't have sysv init scripts, and I don't want this at all.

If you really want to keep this capability in the makefiles, then here
are a few thoughts about possible fixes/enhancements:

      * A separate target ("install-sysv" ?) could be created that did
        this stuff, and normal "install" wouldn't do it.
      * A configure option could be created that would turn this off.
      * The install-exec-local rule could test DESTDIR and only run
        update-rc.d if it was empty.
      * Provide some kind of make variable that, if set, would turn off
        this install, so people like me can run "make SETUP_INIT=false"
        or similar.

Thanks for listening;

Cheers!

-- 
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 Paul D. Smith <ps...@ne...>                       http://netezza.com
 "Please remain calm--I may be mad, but I am a professional."--Mad Scientist
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      These are my opinions--Netezza takes no responsibility for them.