[RFC] /var versus /srv

[seth vidal]

On Fri, 2007-09-21 at 16:45 +0200, Farkas Levente wrote:
> seth vidal wrote:
> > On Fri, 2007-09-21 at 10:29 -0400, Rob Crittenden wrote:
> >> Matthew Miller wrote:
> >>> On Fri, Sep 21, 2007 at 09:19:43AM -0400, seth vidal wrote:
> >>>> As a sysadmin /srv is a useful thing - it's what most sysadmins do
> >>>> anyway - create a top level path where they mount the large, local disks
> >>>> and put all their data. So they know on every system if they hit /etc
> >>>> and /srv with the backups they'll have what they should be worried
> >>>> about. All admins may not call it /srv but they do something like
> >>>> it: /fs, /local, /data, /srv
> >>>>
> >>>> it's all the same result.
> >>>>
> >>>> so while your argument for not using it in the distro is fine -the
> >>>> reality is that this is what is actually done by sysadmins all over the
> >>>> world.
> >>> +1
> >>>
> >>> Thank you Seth.
> >>>
> >>> /var is transient data. There should be nothing there that needs backups.
> >>> And users shouldn't look there for files they might edit.
> >>>
> >> Transient and not backed up? What about /var/mail, /var/spool/cron and 
> >> /var/log?
> > 
> > - /var/log - shouldn't matter - it's being sent to centralized log hosts
> > which I've always had put files in /srv/logs
> > - /var/mail has no data - all your mail should be in your central mail
> > server and not in /var/mail but in another path /srv/mail or /srv/mqueue
> > often
> > 
> > - /var/spool/cron doesn't have any files in it b/c users are not allowed
> > to add cron jobs except on highly specific systems. Moreover, if you're
> > adding root or system-controlled cron jobs they should go in /etc/cron.d
> > or in the /etc/cron.hourly, /etc/cron.daily, etc directories.
> > 
> > never in /var/spool/cron and NEVER add by such a cumbersome tool as cron
> 
> i agree with you about /srv, but not with the above. do you have any
> system with real users? why don't you allow cron jobs for normal users???

systems get reinstalled frequently. Therefore cron jobs get nuked and
end up causing pain. There are central servers they can install cron
jobs on - but not any random box on the network.

-sv