[COLUG] /usr/local/etc/rc.d/init.d - Huh?

[Mike Schoenborn]

At 06:21 PM 1/11/2007 -0500, Tom Hanlon wrote:

>I picture that part of the script that builds this package takes a file
>hierarchy and appends "PATH" (usr/local) to it. 

Yup.  Here are the defaults at the top of the Makefile...

    prefix      = /usr/local
    prefix2     = $(prefix)
    BIN         = $(prefix)/bin
    SBIN        = $(prefix)/sbin
    SCRIPTDIR   = $(prefix)/share/ncid
    ETC         = $(prefix2)/etc
    ROTATE      = $(ETC)/logrotate.d
    INIT        = $(ETC)/rc.d/init.d
    CONFDIR     = $(ETC)/ncid
    MAN         = $(prefix)/share/man

>That should be appended to everythiing but the init script. I see this
>as an easy mistake to make. 

Mind you this Makefile is ambitiously trying to cover many platforms...

    ########################################################################
    # make local            - builds for /usr/local and /var               #
    # make install          - installs files in /usr/local and /var        #
    # make package          - builds for /usr, /etc, and /var              #
    # make install-package  - installs files in /usr, /etc, and /var       #
    # make mandir           - builds man text and html files               #
    #                         (no install for the *.txt and *.html files)  #
    #                                                                      #
    # make tivo-series1     - builds for a ppc TiVo for /var/hack          #
    # make tivo-series2     - builds for a mips TiVo for /var/hack         #
    #   uses the cross compilers at: http://tivoutils.sourceforge.net/     #
    #   usr.local.powerpc-tivo.tar.bz2 (x86 cross compiler for Series1)    #
    #   usr.local.mips-tivo.tar.bz2 (x86 cross compiler for Series2)       #
    #                                                                      #
    # gmake freebsd         - builds for FreeBSD in /usr/local             #
    # gmake install-freebsd - installs in /usr/local                       #
    #                                                                      #
    # make mac              - builds for Macintosh OS X in /usr/local      #
    # make install-mac      - installs in /usr/local                       #
    #                                                                      #
    # make cygwin           - builds for Windows using cygwin              #
    #                         (does not function with modem or comm port)  #
    # make install-cygwin   - installs files in /usr/local, and /var       #
    ########################################################################

...so perhaps a screw up or two can be forgiven. 

(fyi, "make package" sets "prefix2=" blank, with the result that the
init scripts end up in a more "normal" place.)

>Isn't the rule something like...
>"Never attribute to malice that which can be explained as incompetence " 

I preach that one myself, so I agree it might just be a simple
mistake.  But there are a (Very) few (Googled) hints that others are
using the /usr/local/etc/rc.d/init.d directory as well. For instance,
the SmartMon package (http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net) has install
directions which show the suggested options for ./configure for a number
of different scenerios...

    [3] Installing from the source tarball  --with-initscriptdir=/usr/local/etc/rc.d/init.d
    ...
    [4] Guidelines for different Linux distributions
        Debian                              (no options for ./configure, so see [13] below)
        Filesystem Hierarchy Standard       --with-initscriptdir=/usr/local/etc/rc.d/init.d     
        Red Hat                             --with-initscriptdir=/etc/rc.d/init.d
        Slackware                           --with-initscriptdir=/etc/rc.d
        SuSE                                --with-initscriptdir=/etc/init.d                         
    ... 
    [5] Guidelines for FreeBSD      --with-initscriptdir=/usr/local/etc/rc.d
    ... 
    [6] Guidelines for Darwin       --with-initscriptdir=/Library/StartupItems
    ... 
    [8] Guidelines for Solaris      --with-initscriptdir=/etc/init.d
    ... 
    [9] Guidelines for Cygwin       --with-initscriptdir=/etc/rc.d/init.d
    ... 
    [12] Guidelines for OpenBSD     --with-initscriptdir=/usr/local/share/doc/smartmontools-VERSION
    ... 
    [13] Comments
        The following files are installed if ./configure has no options:
        ...
        /usr/local/etc/rc.d/init.d/smartd       [Init/Startup script for smartd]

(Should FHS be considered a "distribution"?)

I was hoping to learn something new here, perhaps that the usage of
/usr/local/etc/rc.d/init.d was bleeding edge.

Now I'm thinking it's just bleeding.