emacs and /etc/alternatives

[Rex Dieter]

Matthew Miller wrote:
> On Thu, Mar 08, 2007 at 01:40:23PM -0500, Chip Coldwell wrote:
>> Let me clarify this -- /usr/bin/emacs must be either a symlink or a
>> wrapper script unless the emacs and emacs-nox packages conflict.
>> Given that, it seems to me like /etc/alternatives is the preferred
>> solution -- at least it's a standard way to set up a symlink.  It is
>> definitely the right thing to do on Debian systems.
> 
> I don't think it's preferred at all, and particularly not in this case. This
> isn't a matter of chosing between two equivalent options -- it's just trying
> to address the linked-with-GNOME thing. So it seems like the right thing to
> do is use a simple script that runs the big version if it's installed, and
> falls back to the svelte one otherwise.

True, that's exactly what alternatives would accomplish too, just in a 
more complicated way.

-- Rex