[nycbug-talk] why /var?

[Bob Ippolito]

On Feb 18, 2005, at 1:42 PM, Jay wrote:

> On Fri, 18 Feb 2005 12:31:27 -0500 (EST), Dru <dlavigne6 at sympatico.ca> 
> wrote:
>>
>> Out of pure innocent curiosity, why do you prefer /var? I don't see 
>> the
>> logic as I never thought of a website as "variable" data but I'm
>> interested in hearing someone else's point of view.
>
> The best answer, though, is that /var is where system daemons put
> their data.  Most partition labels don't accurately reflect use
> anymore, anyway.  We don't let many users store publically accessible
> executables in /usr/bin or /usr/local/bin, even though that's what
> they're there for.  Close to half of anything in most most variations
> on the bin theme is likely to not even be binary, but executables in
> some interpreted or compiled and interpreted language like perl,
> python, or java.  And if we're going to be really serious about truth
> in advertising on filesystems, the mail spool should almost certainly
> go in /tmp, and the only honest label for the rest would be to make
> one big /etc partition and leave it at that.

"bin" really means "executable".

As for the mail spool, the idea is that it's supposed to be persistent 
until it's ready to go out.  You should be able to wipe /tmp on reboot 
(if not more often) without any adverse effects, that wouldn't be true 
if the mail spool was there.  Just because it's volatile doesn't mean 
it's temporary..

-bob