[RFC] /var versus /srv

Krzysztof Halasa khc at pm.waw.pl
Fri Sep 28 13:24:39 UTC 2007


"Nicolas Mailhot" <nicolas.mailhot at laposte.net> writes:

> Because /var/ mixes long-term and transient data, generic and
> implementation-specific stuff, local and global data, and makes backup
> stategies a PITA for everything but SOHO contexts.

Non-SOHO, you back up everything you have on disk and you don't
think about every file and directory. You have to be able to restore
the system reliably and fast. You may consider excluding things like
/tmp and /var/cache but any re-installations or rebuilding of RPMS
databases etc. are not options.

> Good backup is expensive backup so bulk-var-backup is not scaling
> In case of general system failure, or major release update, you're
> better of without a lot of /var contents, because some stuff is easier
> to set up again than take the risk of restoring a rotten state

Excuse me? Restoring from a good backup is the only option, if your
last backup is rotten then you take the previous one.

WRT /srv I personally rmdir /opt /*/opt /srv /media after a system
upgrade because I don't usually use them. Should a need arise, mkdir
and friends aren't that hard to type.

I think there are no more real problems in Fedora as people start
fixing "non-problems" instead. /var has been working fine for years
and I don't see any reason to break it now.
-- 
Krzysztof Halasa




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