On 28-Dec-98 zentara wrote:

Now I've seen people asking in comp.os.linux.misc

} > Someone please explain why SuSE 5.2 makes /usr/X11R6/bin/X an alias } > to /var/X11R6/bin/X which points back to the server in /usr/X11R6/bin?

Why isn't the link just in /usr/X11R6/bin pointing to the correct server?

Is there some deep reason for this, or is it just some handdown method from Slackware?

The reason is not all that deep, and you can even regard it as an irritating fussiness, but for what it's worth the reason, based on the "Linux File System Standard", is: Things under /usr are not supposed to be fiddled with "on the fly", lest it disrupt the system. Things under /var are stuff which may change at any time without disrupting the system. /usr/X11R6/bin/X is the not-to-be-fiddled-with place where xinit looks for the X-server "X". However, you may wish to play around with different X-server binaries, which as executable binary regular files are, of course, in /usr/X11R6/bin/. So you may fiddle with different binaries by pointing variously to them from /var/X11R6/bin/X, without changing /usr/X11R6/bin/X which always points to /var/X11R6/bin/X. So the sacred inertia of /usr is preserved by exploiting the permitted volatility of /var. (I have to admit that I got used to older systems which simply had /usr/X11R6/bin/X -> /usr/X11R6/bin/XF86_whatever, and have to make a conscious effort to do it the new way; but since SuSE is set up this way I prefer not to interfere with that). Best wishes, Ted. -------------------------------------------------------------------- E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <Ted.Harding@nessie.mcc.ac.uk> Date: 29-Dec-98 Time: 02:03:05 -------------------------------------------------------------------- - To get out of this list, please send email to majordomo@suse.com with this text in its body: unsubscribe suse-linux-e Check out the SuSE-FAQ at <A HREF="http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/"><A HREF="http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/</A">http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/</A</A>> and the archiv at <A HREF="http://www.suse.com/Mailinglists/suse-linux-e/index.html"><A HREF="http://www.suse.com/Mailinglists/suse-linux-e/index.html</A">http://www.suse.com/Mailinglists/suse-linux-e/index.html</A</A>>