GoboLinux is a distribution which sports a different file system structure than 'ordinary' Linux distributions. In order to remain compatible with the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard, symbolic links are used to map the GoboLinux tree to standard UNIX directories. A post in the GoboLinux forums suggested that it might be better to turn the concept around: retain the FHS, and then use symbolic links to map the GoboLinux tree on top of it. This sparked some interesting discussion. Read on for more details.
To view parent comment, click here.
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
Member since:2005-07-06
I think you (and most of the respondents) are missing the point, and I didn't mean all admins personally. In fact many of them have much more important things to do than install fonts.
The example is meant not about LaTeX per se (which I like and use every day) but about where it is normally installed, and how the OS interfaces with the user in ways that make no sense except to insiders, when alternative conventions are available.
Member since:2005-12-02
"The example is meant not about LaTeX per se (which I like and use every day) but about where it is normally installed, and how the OS interfaces with the user in ways that make no sense except to insiders, when alternative conventions are available."
You are right, I did miss your point. In another post I mentioned the reason behind the different bin directories, /bin and /usr/bin specifically is what I mentioned. I definitely agree it would be much easier and less confusing to have a single /bin directory. It could be called whatever you wanted it to, though to me bin (short for binary) makes sense, as it tells me there are binary files in that directory. The names all came from the days when you had to use short names. The only thing I am adverse to is making it like other systems because people refuse to learn.
Member since:2006-01-03
I also wasn't disagreeing with your assertions about the filesystem being unnecessarily complex. I agree with a lot of the points you have made.
I was just pointing out that globally accesible file locations for anything are a security risk. I was just using your font example to point that out.
The biggest issue with improving FHS is inertia. Trying to change something that works, even if not optimally may "cost" more than just fixing it. Think of the cost of fixing all the software that has made assumptions about the locations of certain files. Hence trying to point out that something could be better will constantly be met with arguments of why to keep it the same. Legacy is a bi@tch.
I admire the intentions behind GoboLinux and I understand the reason for the path they have chosen using symlinks. It's a hack, but in order to maintain compatibility with a lot of software it's a necessary evil. I just sometimes wonder if the cost is really worth it. Is the existing FHS really so bad, is it costing us so much that we should undertake the cost needed to make everything work in a more elegant fashion. I don't have the answer, I'm just re wording the question.
"The first killer app was VisiCalc. This early spreadsheet turned the Apple II from a hobbyist toy to a business computer. VisiCalc came with room for improvement, though. In addition, a new architecture and operating system, the Intel-based IBM PC and MS-DOS, also needed a spreadsheet to be taken seriously. That spreadsheet, released in early 1983, would be Lotus 1-2-3, and it would change the world. It became the PC's killer app, and the world would never be the same. On May 14, IBM quietly announced the end of the road for 1-2-3, along with Lotus Organizer and the Lotus SmartSuite office suite. Lotus 1-2-3's day is done." Impressive 30 year run.
"There's a disconnect between how Apple CEO Tim Cook sees his company's tax strategies and how some members of the US Senate view it. That became clearer than ever today after Cook and two other Apple executives testified before Congress, explaining why they're holding most of their international income in Irish subsidiaries like Apple Operations International, which declare no tax residency anywhere in the world. AOI hasn't filed a tax return anywhere in the world for the last five years, yet it earned $30 billion in income from 2009 to 2012, according to a Senate report released yesterday." Just because something is legal, doesn't mean it's just. Apple, Google, Microsoft, and many more - these companies might not be breaking any laws, but it's obvious to anyone that what they are doing is scummy.
The new WebKit Opera for Android has been released. "Opera 14 for Android is built on top of Chromium 26, with a total overhaul of the UI in native code, making it fit well with the latest Android design guidelines. Go get the build from Google Play or point your browser to m.opera.com, and give it a spin!"
The Verge pointed me to a blog post by Leap Motion - which reveals how their Kinect-like motion control works with Windows 8. "From the second you plug in your Leap Motion Controller, you'll be able to browse the web and interact with your computer just by moving your hands and fingers in the air. With Leap Motion technology and Windows, you can do everything that's possible with multi-touch inputs - without actually touching anything. This also means that existing applications in Windows 7 and 8 will respond to your natural hand and finger movements. Soon, we'll show you how Leap Motion will work with Mac OS X." Quite cool.
PocketNow interviews Marc Dillon, and there's an interesting note about why Jolla is keeping the display properties under wraps: "We're leaving some of those details out because we do understand that there are a lot of really big players in the market and they tend to take certain components in the market and dominate them. We created the ability to actually be able to run Sailfish on multiple hardware displays and be able to swap components, so this is part of the demand and supply planning phase. We are committed to this industrial design which is a 4.5-inch display, an 8 megapixel camera on the back and a front-facing camera at the front, and the exact specs of the display we'll provide when we're close to delivery." Something you rarely hear anything about.
"This is my NeXTstation Turbo Color booting the Mac System 7.1 Operating System using a hardware add-on called 'Daydream'. The Daydream has a Mac ROM and a few custom ICs in it and hooked up to the NeXTs DSP port. Turns your NeXT into a full fledged 68k powered Mac." So cool.
"The NetBSD Project is pleased to announce NetBSD 6.1, the first feature update of the NetBSD 6 release branch. It represents a selected subset of fixes deemed important for security or stability reasons, as well as new features and enhancements. Please note that all fixes in the prior security/bugfix updates (NetBSD 6.0.1 and 6.0.2) are also in 6.1."
"At the end of a week in which Electronic Arts confirmed it wasn't developing a thing for the Wii U, one of the software engineers in EA Sports' Canada studio, in a series of since-deleted tweets, disparaged the console as 'crap' and suggested Nintendo should give up on hardware altogether. 'The Wii U is crap. Less powerful than an Xbox 360. Poor online/store. Weird tablet', tweeted Bob Summerwill, listed as a senior software engineer at EA Canada, in a reply to a tweet posting a link about EA's no-Wii U news. 'Nintendo are walking dead at this point'." The Wii U is turning into the 21st century's Virtual Boy.
"In NixOS, the entire operating system - the kernel, applications, system packages, configuration files, and so on - is built by the Nix package manager from a description in a purely functional build language. The fact that it's purely functional essentially means that building a new configuration cannot overwrite previous configurations. Most of the other features follow from this." Interesting approach. A Linux distribution, sure, but with some very refreshing ideas about system configuration.
Appfour added, among other features, C/C++ support to its new version of AIDE. From Android-IDE, "Now you can write parts of your app or your whole app in C/C++ on your device. AIDE supports the Standard Android NDK toolchain (GCC 4.6 + Bionic, STL, ...). No changes are necessary if you want to build an app developed on a PC with Eclipse. C/C++ development is fully integrated: Build errors appear in the error list and files can easily be navigated to with Go to file. The editor supports C/C++ syntax highlighting."
Member since:
2005-12-02
"We care once we have to install new fonts to LaTeX and somehow figure out that these are installed in /usr/share/texmf/fonts/... or something similar. Moreover, since that directory is protected against ordinary users, you have to have sudo access. Good luck if you're not the administrator and he thinks he has more important things to do than install your font."
Well, actually, to use your example, fonts can be installed in the home directory without SysAdmin interference.
We usually do not "think" we have more important things to do btw, as our job is to make sure the network and servers are up and running. You can install your font without issue on any major linux distro, by yourself, without assistance and without hacks.