[indiana-discuss] "no scripting zone" and isaexec(3C) == architectural

[Nicolas Williams]

On Thu, Jun 04, 2009 at 08:11:48PM +0200, a b wrote:
> Consider that if I deliver my software in /usr (as a 3rd party
> unbundled applications vendor), I run an extremely high risk of:
> 
> a) being overwritten by IPS, respectively your own updates
> 
> b) my software overwriting your software.

I agree.  This has to be avoided.  That does not mean that there's no
way to enable third-party delivery into /usr (see my other reply).

> > Death to /opt/sfw, /usr/sfw, etc.
> 
> It appears that these architectural issue have not been thought throughly.

PSARC certainly has discussed these issues at length.  This is the first
I hear that where third-party software goes is different for Nevada than
for OpenSolaris.  And I'm not sure that that's anything other than
Shawn's opinion -- documentation is needed.

> > See above.  Your last alternative is to contribute the work to fix 
> > isaexec.  I think you'll find that many engineers feel that it has 
> > several design issues, such as the one you've discovered, that need to 
> > be resolved.
> 
> I very well might, but fixing isaexec(3C) is not going to fix "a no
> scripting zone" issue, nor will it fix the architectural issues I
> described above.

Different issue.

> "Indiana" has a problem. And not just any problem, it has several
> serious architectural issues, and those are the worst kind of
> problems. I cannot simply solve these architectural issues with just
> code. Some consideration is needed as well, and not just on my part.

I'm not sure I agree because I'm not sure that what Shawn said about
/opt is anything other than personal opinion.  IMO if IPS can deal
sanely with conflicts, and preferably a registry is provided, then
recommending /usr over /opt may be a good idea, but deprecating /opt
wouldn't be a good idea for a long time yet.