Hi all,

Daniel J Bernstein, known as djb, created a package manager, called
slashpackage, that uses the Unix file hierarchy as the package
manager's database. As far as I can see, it has the following
(dis)advantages:

ADVANTAGES:
* Less crazy than apt-get, yum, xbps, pacman, etc
* Always a determinate way to get to a file
* Used heavily in djb and djb-inspired software
* Requires no revision of "upstream" install scripts

DISADVANTAGES:
* Filesystem Hierarchy System (FHS) noncompliant directories /package
and /command directly off the root.
* I've never seen any distro that would allow anything directly off the
root besides /usr, /var, /home, /tmp, /opt, /sys, /proc, /dev, /run
* If everybody who thought they had a better idea were allowed to
create their own directory directly off the root, the tree would be a
zoo.

INFORMATION:
The following discuss the thought behind djb's slashpackage package
manager layout:

http://skarnet.org/cgi-bin/archive.cgi?2:mss:1802:201707:npmlmocljngkmhfamaic

https://cr.yp.to/slashpackage.html

http://thedjbway.b0llix.net/builddjb.html

https://cr.yp.to/slashpackage/management.html

https://www.skarnet.org/software/skalibs/flags.html


QUESTIONS TO PONDER:

* Do Debian djb style apps respect slashpackage, and if so, do they
all do it the same way in the same directories? If so, perhaps it's
best for Devuan to do it the same way. If Debian djb style apps
respect slashpackage but put its roots in all sorts of different
places, Devuan should go its own way.

* I've heard Debian's runit will work right out of the box. If this is
true, this would be an incentive to use the same directories as the
Debian runit package. However, there's a runit-systemd package that I
don't think Devuan would be in a position to install.

* How horrible would it be to have directories /command, /package and
perhaps even /service? /command and /package are both pure
slashpackage, and all three are available the instant the root
partition is loaded.

* The s6 upstream installer has a choice as to whether to go
slashpackage, and if so, in which directories (if not the
original /command and /package)? I'll need to examine that.

I'll keep you up to date on all of this.

SteveT

Steve Litt
June 2017 featured book: The Key to Everyday Excellence
http://www.troubleshooters.com/key