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Comment by mort96

1 month ago

Wait what? Why prefix length limits? Linux paths can be 4096 bytes long, I can't imagine y'all are hitting that?

Pouring a bottle requires rewriting paths embedded in binaries, which results in a cap.

Postgres is an example of this: the various directories are set at build time.

I’d imagine they’re live updating the library paths in the binary headers, so anything shorter or equal to what they’re using is a simple rewrite, but longer is more complex.

  • Ah. That makes sense.

    It's so annoying how deeply UNIX packaging philosophy assumes that installation directories are something you hard-code at build time.

    • The present is built mostly on layers of the long-past :)

      It makes me think of when Arch merged /usr/bin and sbin with /bin and sbin. Having them split made sense in a ton of scenarios that used to be very common, but increasingly the split was vestigial for most users.

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