Bug 538106

Summary:	sys-apps/coreutils[multicall] should install /bin/coreutils not /usr/bin/coreutils
Product:	Gentoo Linux	Reporter:	Daniel Santos <daniel.santos>
Component:	[OLD] Core system	Assignee:	Gentoo's Team for Core System packages <base-system>
Status:	UNCONFIRMED ---
Severity:	normal	CC:	rene.rheaume, sam
Priority:	Normal
Version:	unspecified
Hardware:	All
OS:	Linux
Whiteboard:
Package list:		Runtime testing required:	---

Description Daniel Santos 2015-01-29 03:45:41 UTC

The problem is that the multicall executable is installed into /usr/bin, despite the fact that half of the programs it runs are in /bin.  This creates an undue burdon, especially when attempting to rescue a broken system, because if /usr fails to mount for some reason then the entire coreutils suite becomes unavailable! This is unacceptable.

The USE=multicall feature is primarily advertised as a way to save disk space. However, logic would follow that it would have many other performance benefits on a modern system such as reduced memory required by page cache, reduced mmaped memory, reduced CPU cache misses, etc. -- especially when running shell scripts that call many such executables in a short period of time. Therefore, I would consider this feature to have value beyond storage- and memory-constrained systems.

Comment 1 SpanKY gentoo-dev

2015-02-15 08:43:39 UTC

this is why we install busybox.  that is the system rescue shell, not packages like coreutils.

Comment 2 Daniel Santos 2015-02-16 22:35:33 UTC

(In reply to SpanKY from comment #1)
> this is why we install busybox.  that is the system rescue shell, not
> packages like coreutils.

Yes, indeed I have busybox on my system and that's how I recovered, but that does not invalidate the problem. Why should we have to rely on busybox when coreutils should have functioned? If it's installed in /{,s}bin, it should work w/o /usr.

Comment 3 SpanKY gentoo-dev

2015-02-17 04:03:52 UTC

(In reply to Daniel Santos from comment #2)

i haven't closed the bug because i plan on moving `coreutils`.  but i think you missed my point: the Gentoo rescue policy is to use busybox.  we do not rely on other packages such as coreutils.