Re: Add vendor configuration directory installation

[Alfred M. Szmidt]

   > >    - Packages define a configure option for the /etc directory, e.g.
   > >        --enable-etcdir=/etc
   > >      through Autoconf [3].
   > Yes, and what we are proposing is that this option (by a different name) 
   > will be included in Autoconf so that developers don't have to add it 
   > manually.

   The proposed patch [1] does more than that. Especially the documentation
   change suggests that it's OK for the "make install" step to install files
   in both /usr/etc and /etc. As you clarified above, this is not what is
   desired.

That would break a bunch of stuff, notably any GNU system where /usr
and / are the same.

   The configure --help output and/or the documentation should state that
     - "make install" will install into SYSCONFDIR,
     - but the package will read from ETCDIR and then from SYSCONFDIR.

It should absolutley not state that.  It is on purpose that `make
install' does not trash sysconfdir; if you install a program you do
not want your configuration files that you have modified to be
overwritten.

I'm against this change (--admindir.. ), it is making a problem where
there is none.  For configuration files that are "global" (which this
basically is); one should not use /usr/etc (which might not exist, or
point to /etc).  What should be used is /usr/share/PACKAGE or similar.
This is already configurable by ./configure, so there is no reason to
add switch that will not be used by anyone other than systemd.