Debian Repeals The Merged "/usr" Movement Moratorium

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Debian Repeals The Merged "/usr" Movement Moratorium

Debian 12 had aimed to have a merged "/usr" file-system layout similar to other Linux distributions, but The Debian Technical Committee earlier this year decided to impose a merged-/usr file movement moratorium. But now with Debian 12 having been out for a few months, that moratorium has been repealed...

https://www.phoronix.com/news/Debian-Repeats-Merged-Usr-Block

[skeevy420]

I've always found it funny how the hacked in directory /usr is becoming the de facto standard directory to install things. Hopefully Debian gets this done sooner than later. IMHO, should have been done 2 or 3 releases ago.

I wish the whole 3 letter naming scheme would be dropped so we wouldn't have Unix System Resources arguments or have to explain that /srv isn't for services, it's where you store Stevie Ray Vaughn FLACs. I do wish that. It isn't 1982. Our file systems and disk drives have advanced way beyond that limitation.

Why do root and home get a 3 letter exception? Why aren't they rot and hme? That kind of proves they don't have to be 3 letters, though.

[kpedersen]

I really like the concept of a base install with 3rd party packages in a separate branch hierarchy. /usr/csw, /opt/sfw, /usr/local, etc.

However Linux distros have never really achieved this so /usr does just seem pointless.

Only once have I benefitted from it (overlayfs /var and /usr as lowers to create a semi-immutable system) but it was a bit of a bodge.

[cen1]

I've always found it funny how the hacked in directory /usr is becoming the de facto standard directory to install things. Hopefully Debian gets this done sooner than later. IMHO, should have been done 2 or 3 releases ago.

I wish the whole 3 letter naming scheme would be dropped so we wouldn't have Unix System Resources arguments or have to explain that /srv isn't for services, it's where you store Stevie Ray Vaughn FLACs. I do wish that. It isn't 1982. Our file systems and disk drives have advanced way beyond that limitation.

Why do root and home get a 3 letter exception? Why aren't they rot and hme? That kind of proves they don't have to be 3 letters, though.

FHS is a thing

[yoshi314]

I've always found it funny how the hacked in directory /usr is becoming the de facto standard directory to install things. Hopefully Debian gets this done sooner than later. IMHO, should have been done 2 or 3 releases ago.

quick hacks like those end up as standards, especially in production.

I wish the whole 3 letter naming scheme would be dropped so we wouldn't have Unix System Resources arguments or have to explain that /srv isn't for services, it's where you store Stevie Ray Vaughn FLACs. I do wish that. It isn't 1982. Our file systems and disk drives have advanced way beyond that limitation.

Why do root and home get a 3 letter exception? Why aren't they rot and hme? That kind of proves they don't have to be 3 letters, though.

i do not think that there is a 3 letter standard. it's just that those words made sense even when terse, and again - they are an idea that became established standard (FHS). to me they make sense as-is, since they do not have special characters, are short and everyone knows their purpose.

[archkde]

Why do root and home get a 3 letter exception? Why aren't they rot and hme? That kind of proves they don't have to be 3 letters, though.

Funny that you mention these. /usr is actually short for "user" and originally had the purpose now fulfilled by /home. So the answer may just be "because they came late enough".

[fong38]

Or we could just get rid of it all, NixOS / Guix style.

(/s but also kind of unironically)

[schmidtbag]

I don't see the point in merging these in the first place. Symlinks to the other folders are likely to exist in perpetuity for the sake of backward compatibility.

[stormcrow]

FHS is a thing

A thing that Linux distros ignore in whole or in part depending on the whims of the people packaging them. There's a number of standards that have purported to fix Unix file locations over the years. But like the crapshoot that is Windows (most programs install in Program Files or Program Files x86, but definitely not all, and config/saved data ends up all over the place) Linux distros has never been good at consistency between them nor has the software that people use in practice. At least flatpak and appimage partly solve this problem apparently inspired by MacOS .app application inclusive directory structures (you just click on the .app directory and MacOS automatically finds the executable and runs it with everything needed for it to run contained in the directory.), but they still don't solve the problem with data and configuration files being strewn in a dozen different dot directories just like it doesn't solve the same problem on Macs.

[andyprough]

Ahh how cute, the PlayStation/Xbox generation of developers has taken over the world. Their next proposal will be, "we need to change the name from /usr to /user and stop using the silent 'e'."

I'm surprised there isn't already a "systemd-userd" module to deal with this dilemma once and for all. Get on it, Lennart, what is Microsoft paying you the big bucks for anyway?