Re: linux paths.h

[Andreas Jaeger <aj@arthur.rhein-neckar.de>]

>>>>> Zack Weinberg writes:

Zack> On Fri, 5 Feb 1999 22:50:31 -0500 (EST), Wesley Morgan wrote:
>> I noticed recently that _PATH_MAILDIR under linux has been changed to
>> /var/mail. I was under the impression that it was /var/spool/mail, just as
>> quite a few programs seem to expect. Is this considered the new standard?
>> I see in the changelog it is... Someone should put that into the FAQ, as
>> it caused me a small headache upgrading sendmail and may bite a few
>> others.

Zack> The new FHS says /var/mail is the canonical location.  It was changed for
Zack> closer compatibility with most commercial Unixes.  This has been highly
Zack> controversial, and may change again in the future.  If you have lots of
Zack> programs expecting /var/spool/mail, change it back.  Or you can put in a
Zack> symlink.

I don't think that _PATH_MAILDIR will change again.  I wouldn't advise 
changing it back but just adding a link.

This was recently topic of a discussion on the FHS list and the
consens was something like the following (I don't think this will be
the final wording):

> The mail spool MUST be accessible through /var/mail AND /var/spool/mail,
> and spool files MUST take the form /var/{spool/}mail/$LOGNAME. Either
> /var/mail or /var/spool/mail, or both, MAY be symbolic links to another
> directory. It is RECOMMENDED that /var/mail be the actual directory and
> /var/spool/mail be the symbolic link. At some point use of /var/spool/mail
> may become deprecated.

Andreas
-- 
 Andreas Jaeger   aj@arthur.rhein-neckar.de    jaeger@informatik.uni-kl.de
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