Synaptic history

[Jordon Bedwell]

On 11/08/2010 12:48 PM, R Kimber wrote:
> On Mon, 8 Nov 2010 09:43:07 -0800
> Mark wrote:
> 
>> I keep *all* my non-system entities on separate file systems from
>> /boot and /.  Even if I clobber my / file system I can still refresh
>> or even reinstall it with minimal pain.
> 
> Yes, but there can still be inconveniences.  For example,
> there's /var/www, and also Boinc stuff seems to be installed in /var/lib,
> which normally would need to be overwritten on re-install (I think).  Do
> you have a separate /var file system?

No, /srv should be a separate file system and /srv/www is where www
files should be stored. /var/www only exists because of impact, the
negative impact it would create if Debian were to suddenly enforce FHS
on Apache when so many users think that /var/www is actually the correct
place to put system www files.  It's a management compromise, and I'm
sad to say that :(

Personal www files (such as VHOST sites) should be placed in /home but
some systems administrators use /srv/{username}/www, I personally think
that is sloppy, we can't throw up the golden rule about home if we store
them in /srv :P (Golden rule being: Don't ever touch somebodies home
folder, it's not our business, it's theirs)

This is the same great debate that has been going on for a while, the
same one that involves /usr/local too.  I don't keep /usr/local on my
systems at all.  Everything is compiled to /opt/{app} and /opt is a
separate file system too (the same way some admins would export and make
/usr/local a separate file system) and sometimes exported (for our
clusters we export /opt because they are direct clones of each other
with a base image and of course it makes management easier)

You also see some sloppy exports from systems admins too, for example
one company I consulted for used /nfs instead of /srv/nfs I almost lost
my mind, but that's life I guess :(

Anyways, FHS is an interesting read, I think you should check it out:
http://www.pathname.com/fhs/pub/fhs-2.3.html

It will explain a lot to you and possibly turn you to our side about
Debian Apache2 removing /var/www and using another location that is more
fitting for FHS :D