Debian bug report logs - #1146 `mkfs' doesn't find /usr/local/bin/mkfs.msdos Package: miscutils ; Reported by: iwj10@cus.cam.ac.uk (Ian Jackson); 100 days old . ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Message received at debian-bugs: From cus.cam.ac.uk!iwj10 Tue Jul 25 07:12:04 1995 Return-Path: Received: from pixar.com by mongo.pixar.com with smtp (Smail3.1.28.1 #15) id m0sakiJ-0003aSC; Tue, 25 Jul 95 07:12 PDT Received: from bootes.cus.cam.ac.uk by pixar.com with SMTP id AA13882 (5.67b/IDA-1.5 for debian-bugs-pipe@mongo.pixar.com); Tue, 25 Jul 1995 07:10:26 -0700 Received: by bootes.cus.cam.ac.uk (Smail-3.1.29.0 #36) id m0sajVu-000C0uC; Tue, 25 Jul 95 13:55 BST Received: by chiark id (Debian /\oo/\ Smail3.1.29.1 #29.32); Tue, 25 Jul 95 00:55 BST Message-Id: Date: Tue, 25 Jul 95 00:55 BST From: iwj10@cus.cam.ac.uk (Ian Jackson) To: debian-bugs@Pixar.com Subject: Re: Bug#1146: `mkfs' doesn't find /usr/local/bin/mkfs.msdos In-Reply-To: References: Bruce Perens writes ("Re: Bug#1146: `mkfs' doesn't find /usr/local/bin/mkfs.msdos "): > Is this a bug in mkfs.msdos, or in mkfs? I would not expect mkfs, a power-tool > program if I've ever seen one, to go out promiscuiously in $PATH running > anything named mkfs. . I'd rather see mkfs.msdos installed > under /sbin by one of the base packages. mkfs.msdos is not part of a Debian package. It's something I copied into /usr/local/bin from my old installation. It would probably be useful as (part of) a Debian package - but definitely not a base package. However, it's not reasonable for the mkfs front-end to refuse to invoke any backends I may have installed locally. Remember that I shouldn't put things in [/usr]/sbin because that's the Debian distribution's space. Bill Mitchell writes ("Re: Bug#1146: mkfs' doesn't find /usr/local/bin/mkfs.msdos"): > Good question. The answer seems muddy. > > The FSSTND [...] The answer isn't in the FSSTND. > The mkfs man page says that the file system-sepcific builder > mkfs.type is searched for in /etc/fs first, then in /etc, > and finally in the directories listed in the PATH environment > variable. Based on a quick look, the code seems to do that. Well, it doesn't work for me, as you can see from my transcript. (a) The documentation (and code, if need be) should be changed to use /sbin/fs and /sbin rather than /etc/fs and /etc. (b) The code should be changed so that the PATH is searched, as the documentation claims it is. > [...] > Should mkfs support programs mkfs.type programs which local > sysadmins place in /usr/local/sbin? Should mkfs support > mkfs.type programs placed at an arbitrary location on the > current PATH? It seems to me that the mkfs designer is on > his own here -- I don't see a standard or a requirements > spec which addresses this. > [...] It seems to me that these are a perfectly reasonable requirements, and the lack of the feature can be awkward to work around. The code isn't hard to do - especially if it is already there, just non-functional. The authors of the program seem to agree with me, since they documented this feature in the manpage, even if it doesn't work. Ian. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Acknowledgement sent to iwj10@cus.cam.ac.uk (Ian Jackson) : Extra info received and forwarded. Full text available. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Information forwarded to debian-devel@pixar.com : Bug#1146 ; Package miscutils . Full text available. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Message received at debian-bugs: From mdd.comm.mot.com!mitchell Sun Jul 23 20:40:00 1995 Return-Path: Received: from pixar.com by mongo.pixar.com with smtp (Smail3.1.28.1 #15) id m0saEN6-0003dRC; Sun, 23 Jul 95 20:40 PDT Received: from motgate.mot.com by pixar.com with SMTP id AA04256 (5.67b/IDA-1.5 for debian-bugs-pipe@mongo.pixar.com); Sun, 23 Jul 1995 20:38:25 -0700 Received: from pobox.mot.com (pobox.mot.com [129.188.137.100]) by motgate.mot.com (8.6.11/8.6.10/MOT-3.7) with ESMTP id WAA22906; Sun, 23 Jul 1995 22:38:50 -0500 Received: from mdd.comm.mot.com (mdisea.mdd.comm.mot.com [138.242.64.201]) by pobox.mot.com (8.6.11/8.6.10/MOT-3.7) with SMTP id WAA28401; Sun, 23 Jul 1995 22:38:49 -0500 Received: from bb29c.mdd.comm.mot.com by mdd.comm.mot.com (4.1/SMI-4.1) id AA27634; Sun, 23 Jul 95 20:38:48 PDT Received: by bb29c.mdd.comm.mot.com (4.1/SMI-4.1) id AA22383; Sun, 23 Jul 95 20:38:41 PDT Date: Sun, 23 Jul 1995 20:38:40 -0700 (PDT) From: Bill Mitchell X-Sender: mitchell@bb29c To: Bruce Perens Cc: Ian Jackson , debian-bugs@Pixar.com Subject: Re: Bug#1146: mkfs' doesn't find /usr/local/bin/mkfs.msdos In-Reply-To: Message-Id: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII On Sun, 23 Jul 1995, Bruce Perens wrote: > Is this a bug in mkfs.msdos, or in mkfs? I would not expect mkfs, a power-tool > program if I've ever seen one, to go out promiscuiously in $PATH running > anything named mkfs. . I'd rather see mkfs.msdos installed > under /sbin by one of the base packages. Good question. The answer seems muddy. The FSSTND lists file system management commands named mkfs and mkfs.* (* = one of ext, ext2, minix, msdos, xia, and perhaps others) [... those words are direct fromt the FSSTND ...] as "Required files for /sbin". The mkfs man page says that the file system-sepcific builder mkfs.type is searched for in /etc/fs first, then in /etc, and finally in the directories listed in the PATH environment variable. Based on a quick look, the code seems to do that. It seems to me that, wherever else it might check, mkfs should check in /sbin for an FSSTND-compatably-situated mkfs.type program. It doesn't currently seem to do this unless /sbin is on the current PATH. Should mkfs support programs mkfs.type programs which local sysadmins place in /usr/local/sbin? Should mkfs support mkfs.type programs placed at an arbitrary location on the current PATH? It seems to me that the mkfs designer is on his own here -- I don't see a standard or a requirements spec which addresses this. Lacking a standard or a spec, I'd not expect the different programmers of different utilities to have made designers-choice decisions such as this in the same way. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Acknowledgement sent to Bill Mitchell : Extra info received and forwarded. Full text available. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Information forwarded to debian-devel@pixar.com : Bug#1146 ; Package miscutils . Full text available. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Message received at debian-bugs: From pixar.com!bruce Sun Jul 23 17:42:56 1995 Return-Path: Received: from pixar.com by mongo.pixar.com with smtp (Smail3.1.28.1 #15) id m0saBbj-000BCvC; Sun, 23 Jul 95 17:42 PDT Received: from mongo.pixar.com by pixar.com with SMTP id AA24726 (5.67b/IDA-1.5 for debian-bugs-pipe@mongo.pixar.com); Sun, 23 Jul 1995 17:41:23 -0700 Received: by mongo.pixar.com (Smail3.1.28.1 #15) id m0saBai-000BC6C; Sun, 23 Jul 95 17:41 PDT Message-Id: X-Mailer: exmh version 1.6.2 7/18/95 To: iwj10@cus.cam.ac.uk (Ian Jackson), debian-bugs@Pixar.com Cc: bruce@Pixar.com Subject: Re: Bug#1146: `mkfs' doesn't find /usr/local/bin/mkfs.msdos In-Reply-To: Your message of "Sun, 23 Jul 1995 17:28:00 PDT." Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Date: Sun, 23 Jul 1995 17:41:52 -0700 From: Bruce Perens Is this a bug in mkfs.msdos, or in mkfs? I would not expect mkfs, a power-tool program if I've ever seen one, to go out promiscuiously in $PATH running anything named mkfs. . I'd rather see mkfs.msdos installed under /sbin by one of the base packages. Thanks Bruce -- -- Attention Ham Radio Operators: For information on "Linux for Hams", read -- the World Wide Web page http://www.hams.com/perens/LinuxForHams, or send -- an e-mail message containing the word "help" to info@hams.com . ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Acknowledgement sent to Bruce Perens : Extra info received and forwarded. Full text available. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Information forwarded to debian-devel@pixar.com : Bug#1146 ; Package miscutils . Full text available. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Message received at debian-bugs: From cus.cam.ac.uk!iwj10 Sun Jul 23 13:03:13 1995 Return-Path: Received: from pixar.com by mongo.pixar.com with smtp (Smail3.1.28.1 #15) id m0sa7F3-0005NXC; Sun, 23 Jul 95 13:03 PDT Received: from bootes.cus.cam.ac.uk by pixar.com with SMTP id AA09355 (5.67b/IDA-1.5 for debian-bugs-pipe@mongo.pixar.com); Sun, 23 Jul 1995 13:01:40 -0700 Received: by bootes.cus.cam.ac.uk (Smail-3.1.29.0 #36) id m0sa7Ey-000BzfC; Sun, 23 Jul 95 21:03 BST Received: by chiark id (Debian /\oo/\ Smail3.1.29.1 #29.32); Sun, 23 Jul 95 17:28 BST Message-Id: Date: Sun, 23 Jul 95 17:28 BST From: iwj10@cus.cam.ac.uk (Ian Jackson) To: Debian bugs submission address Subject: `mkfs' doesn't find /usr/local/bin/mkfs.msdos Package: miscutils Version: 1.3-1 chiark:~> type mkfs.msdos mkfs.msdos is /usr/local/bin/mkfs.msdos chiark:~> echo $PATH /u/ian/bin/linux:/u/ian/bin/scripts:/usr/local/bin:/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/bin/X11:/usr/local/sbin:/sbin:/usr/sbin:/bin:/etc:/usr/etc chiark:~> mkfs -t msdos /dev/fd0H1440 mkfs.msdos: No such file or directory chiark:~> mkfs.msdos /dev/fd0H1440 mkfs.msdos 0.1, 1st September 1993 for MS-DOS FS chiark:~> Ian. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Acknowledgement sent to iwj10@cus.cam.ac.uk (Ian Jackson) : New bug report received and forwarded. Full text available. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Report forwarded to debian-devel@pixar.com : Bug#1146 ; Package miscutils . Full text available. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ian Jackson / iwj10@thor.cam.ac.uk , with the debian-bugs tracking mechanism This page last modified 07:43:01 GMT Wed 01 Nov