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.IP \fBSubject:\fP 15
/usr/gnu
.IP "\fBSubmitted by:\fP" 15
Stephen Hahn
.IP \fBFile:\fP 15
\*(aR/\*(cA/opinion.ms
.IP \fBDate:\fP 15
January 31st, 2007
.IP "\fBCommittee:\fP" 15
James D. Carlson,
Kais Belgaied,
Ed Gould,
Joseph Kowalski,
Tim Marsland,
Glenn Skinner,
Bill Sommerfeld,
Gary Winiger.
.IP "\fBProduct Approval Committee:\fP" 15

Solaris PAC
.br
solaris-pac@sun.com

.pn 2
.NH
Summary
.LP
This project builds on "Enabling serendipitous discovery" (PSARC
2005/185) and proposes two new policies for Solaris related to
GNU/FSF-derived software that conflicts with Solaris components.  The
first is the creation of a new "/usr/gnu" hierarchy to be delivered
with Solaris, and populated with GNU/FSF-derived objects that conflict
with Solaris objects.  The second is a policy relating to 'g'-prefixed
variants in the standard file system locations.
.NH
Decision & Precedence Information
.LP
The project is approved as specified in reference [1].
.LP
The project may deliver in a patch/micro release of Solaris.
.LP
See the final specification in reference [1] for details on the new
policies.
.NH
Interfaces
.LP
The project exports the following interfaces.
.if n .ne 8
.if t .ne 3
.TS H
box;
c s s
l | l | l.
Interfaces Exported
_
Interface	Classification	Comments
_
.TH
/usr/share/info	Committed	Single directory
/usr/gnu	Committed	Directory hierarchy
/usr/gnu/bin	Committed
/usr/gnu/sbin	Committed
/usr/gnu/include	Committed
/usr/gnu/lib	Committed
/usr/gnu/libexec	Committed
/usr/gnu/share	Committed
/usr/gnu/share/info	Committed
/usr/gnu/share/man	Committed
/etc/gnu	Committed	Directory hierarchy
/var/gnu	Committed	Directory hierarchy
/var/gnu/com	Committed
.TE
.NH
Opinion
.LP
.NH 2
Why GNU?
.LP
The existing precedent for XPG and UCB environments is based on ideal
or historic systems that the user may need to emulate.  Several ARC
members asked why GNU in particular (rather than some GNU-using
system, such as a particular Linux distribution) was an interesting
reference point, and why we should not be examining other possible
software repositories.
.LP
The project team made several points in response.  First, this project
deals with conflict resolution, and conflicts are an issue primarily
with Unix-like environments.  GNU is the only alternative Unix-like
repository of any significance, given our intertwined BSD history, and
the only one expected to exist in the future.  Further, close
integration of these tools into Solaris is a great benefit for JDS and
other consolidations, both in building open source software and in
supporting applications.
.LP
The ARC members agreed with this answer.
.NH 2
Full Versus Sparse Directory
.LP
Several ARC members objected to the fully-populated symlink forest in
the original proposal, as it's both less flexible than a sparse
(conflicts-only) directory and unnecessarily different from our
precedents.  The team agreed to update the specification to remove
the symlinks.
.NH 2
Administrative Utilities Excluded
.LP
A few ARC members pointed out that administrative applications
designed for Linux or some other GNU system are unlikely to work
correctly on Solaris, whatever their merits.  The team agreed to
update the specification to exclude the new policy from applying to
things that are deemed to be administrative in nature.
.LP
One important issue is that what is considered "administrative" is
sometimes subjective.  The distinctions are sometimes based on how the
utilities are used rather than what they do.  This is an issue that
may need to be examined again as future projects use the policies set
forth in this case.
.LP
The ARC members did not review a proposal to include administrative
utilities, but it's expected that such items in a future case would be
subject to much more substantial review and constraint.
.NH
Minority Opinion(s)
.LP
None
.NH
Advisory Information
.LP
None
.NH
Appendices
.NH 2
Appendix A: Technical Changes Required
.LP
None
.NH 2
Appendix B: Technical Changes Advised
.LP
None
.NH 2
Appendix C: Reference Material
.LP
Unless stated otherwise, path names are relative to the case
directory \*(aR/\*(cA.
.IP 1.
Final specification
File:
final.spec.txt