RFC: new location of configuration space (and nfsroot, too)

[Holger Levsen]

Hi,

> some folks remarked that the default location for the
> configuration space (currently /usr/local/share/fai) may be changed to
> /usr/share/... (I propose to use /usr/share/fai/config). Which
> location are you using with your fai installation? What do you think
> about a new default location? Are there some technical reason for a
> certain location?

Right now I'm using /usr/local/share/fai like almost everybody else, but I 
would like to switch it to /var/lib/fai/config. It should be possible to 
mount /usr read-only during "normal operation" - changing FAIs configuration 
IMHO is normal operation.

Likewise I propose changing the default path to the clients nfsroot to 
/var/lib/fai/nfsroot/i386 - leaving space for others fai-archs on the same 
server ;-)

I'm not 100% sure that /var/lib is the right place, but I'm quiet sure that 
the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard is the right reference to look at ;-)

Filesystem Hierarchy Standard
http://www.pathname.com/fhs/2.2/
http://www.pathname.com/fhs/2.2/fhs-5.8.html
5.8 /var/lib : Variable state information
 This hierarchy holds state information pertaining to an application or the 
system. State information is data that programs modify while they run, and 
that pertains to one specific host. Users must never need to modify files in 
/var/lib to configure a package's operation. 
 State information is generally used to preserve the condition of an 
application (or a group of inter-related applications) between invocations 
and between different instances of the same application. State information 
should generally remain valid after a reboot, should not be logging output, 
and should not be spooled data. 
 An application (or a group of inter-related applications) must use a 
subdirectory of /var/lib for its data.[footnote 33] There is one required 
subdirectory, /var/lib/misc, which is intended for state files that don't 
need a subdirectory; the other subdirectories should only be present if the 
application in question is included in the distribution. 
 /var/lib/<name> is the location that must be used for all distribution 
packaging support. Different distributions may use different names, of 
course. 

Linux Standard Base Specification 1.3.030310
http://www.linuxbase.org/spec/gLSB/gLSB/execenvfhs.html
Chapter 21. File System Hierarchy
An LSB conforming implementation must adhere to the FHS 2.2.
An LSB conforming application is recommended to follow the FHS 2.2. If it does 
not follow the FHS 2.2 it should include documentation of the differences.

What do you think about changing the nfsroot default location ?

regards,
	Holger