[RFC] Deprecate @srcdir in pkg_install manifests

[Garrett Cooper]

On Sat, May 8, 2010 at 8:25 PM, Garrett Cooper <yanefbsd at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Arch and Portmgr,
>    Found another item that I'm proposing for removal -- @srcdir. Now,
> first off, here's what it does (from pkg_create):
>
>     @srcdir directory
>             Set the internal directory pointer for _creation only_ to
>             directory.  That is to say that it overrides @cwd for package
>             creation but not extraction.
>
> This construct:
>
> 1. Isn't used anywhere in /usr/ports's pkg_plist* files.
> 2. Isn't used in /usr/src .
> 3. Is semi-broken in pkg_create as it's treated as a really awkward
> special case, like so:
>
>        else if (p->type == PLIST_CWD || p->type == PLIST_SRC)
>            fprintf(totar, "-C\n%s\n", p->name);
>
>    So if I specify @srcdir multiple times, pkg_create will fall in on itself.
> 4. It over-complicates things, as the -p option basically already sort

Correction -- -s and -S handle this functionality:

     -s srcdir
             srcdir will override the value of @cwd during package creation.

     -S basedir
             basedir will be prefixed to all @cwd during package creation.

> of provides this level of functionality; the only pro for doing this
> that I can think of is if someone had tainted vs untainted files that
> they wanted to install, then using @srcdir with a custom manifest and
> directory would simplify things. I argue that if they're doing that,
> they should be using a chroot or a jail anyhow because package
> maintainers would potentially unnecessarily taint the system with
> their environment and the packages wouldn't be necessarily as safe to
> redistribute.
>    Another item I'll be talking about with flz and other folks at
> BSDCan, but I wanted to see if anyone had any concerns that they
> needed to air here before a final decision was made by portmgr.

Thanks,
-Garrett