Bug 5064

How is configure supposed to know if your Linux system is FHS compliant?
Sounds like it needs a --enable-fhs-paths flag for those so inclined.

Simple, it should install "data" files into "datadir" on all platforms.

The platform then tells configure what "datadir" is and everything works
properly on all platforms.  FHS compliant systems would pass:

./configure --datadir=/usr/share --libdir=/usr/lib

etc. to ./configure, and non-FHS compliant systems would pass whatever
the directory is that they want --datadir to use.  The default if nothing
is specified, can be anything at all.

On Red Hat systems, we pass configure the directory names of every single
./configure option in order to specify where things should go, only the
modular Xorg does not honour these configure options properly.

To recap, if you just type "./configure", configure should default to
whatever it wants for each of the directory options.  That can be
"traditional X locations", "/usr/X11R7", or whatever X.Org thinks is
appropriate.  When you tell ./configure explicitly however that:

--prefix=/usr
--datadir=/usr/share
--libdir=/usr/lib

etc., then it should honour this, and put the "data" files in the "datadir".

No --enable-fhs-mode is necessary nor is it desired.  The FHS complaint
operating system, passes ./configure the FHS compliant locations for the
types of files via --<foo>dir so that things go to the expected place.

Xorg is just not honouring the usage of these options properly, however
some packages have gotten cleaned up between RC0 and RC1, and more in RC2.

Intentionally breaking the usage of --datadir or not using it just makes
life incredibly more difficult for all of the distributions out there that
expect standard GNU ./configure options to work as expected.

To give a more specific example...

Install architecture neutral "data" into for example:

    fontdir=$(datadir)/X11/fonts
    localedir=$(datadir)/X11/locale


install rgb.txt into $(datadir) and have the things that look for it, look
in datadir.

Now, let Xorg decide what the default will be for datadir, etc., and you
don't have to care what FHS is more or less.  Set datadir to /usr/lib for
"official Xorg" default, or for non-FHS compliant systems.  The FHS
complaint systems don't use the default anyway, and specify already
that --datadir=/usr/share.

Everything just magically works for everyone, FHS complaint or not.
    

... where "complaint" should have been "compliant"...  nice spelling on me
today.

Created attachment 3856 [details] [review]
patch to separate localedir and localelibdir handling

here's the patch I wrote towards this end for Ubuntu.  we've been using it for
a while with no problems.

Comment on attachment 3856 [details] [review]
patch to separate localedir and localelibdir handling

approval requested, as this is a (legitimate, IMO) 6.9/7.0 blocker

I just implemented my own fix before checking bugzilla.  ;o/

Mine is the same as yours for the datadir, but does not handle the
i18n modules as we don't build them by default.  I've looked at your
patch and it seems sane to me.  It sounds like it has gotten testing
via Ubuntu, so I believe this should be fixed for X11R7 as well.

Relteam: Please approve this, and commit to CVS before RC3 if possible.


Note:  To anyone applying the patch to RC2 packages, you'll need to
run "aclocal;automake;autoconf" to activate the changes.  HTH

autoreconf is a better idea, imo

Comment on attachment 3856 [details] [review]
patch to separate localedir and localelibdir handling

should definitely get done, but is too complex for 7.0.  denied for now.

Added patch keyword

-> 7.2

committed to git