Обсуждение: Fir mkdir command in "Short Version" for installing from source

Hi,

if you follow that example step by step, the mkdir command will fail, obviously:
https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/install-short.html

Is it worth fixing that with "mkdir -p ..."?

Regards
Daniel

> On 13 Mar 2022, at 17:05, Daniel Westermann (DWE) <daniel.westermann@dbi-services.com> wrote:

> if you follow that example step by step, the mkdir command will fail, obviously:
> https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/install-short.html
>
> Is it worth fixing that with "mkdir -p ..."?

Well, it will fail unless the user already had /usr/local/pgsql/, but I hear
what you're saying.  Though I bet almost anyone following this will be able to
figure it out but there is little to no value in not being correct.

--
Daniel Gustafsson        https://vmware.com/

Daniel Gustafsson <daniel@yesql.se> writes:
> On 13 Mar 2022, at 17:05, Daniel Westermann (DWE) <daniel.westermann@dbi-services.com> wrote:
>> Is it worth fixing that with "mkdir -p ..."?

> Well, it will fail unless the user already had /usr/local/pgsql/, but I hear
> what you're saying.  Though I bet almost anyone following this will be able to
> figure it out but there is little to no value in not being correct.

I think that at the time that was written, mkdir didn't universally
have a "-p" option.  But POSIX has required that for a very long
time, so it's probably safe to assume it now.

A larger issue is that blind "mkdir -p" may not produce the ownerships
and permissions you want for the parent directories.  That's not a
topic to get into in a one-line summary, though.

            regards, tom lane

> On 14 Mar 2022, at 15:01, Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us> wrote:
>
> Daniel Gustafsson <daniel@yesql.se> writes:
>> On 13 Mar 2022, at 17:05, Daniel Westermann (DWE) <daniel.westermann@dbi-services.com> wrote:
>>> Is it worth fixing that with "mkdir -p ..."?
>
>> Well, it will fail unless the user already had /usr/local/pgsql/, but I hear
>> what you're saying.  Though I bet almost anyone following this will be able to
>> figure it out but there is little to no value in not being correct.
>
> I think that at the time that was written, mkdir didn't universally
> have a "-p" option.  But POSIX has required that for a very long
> time, so it's probably safe to assume it now.

Yeah, I wasn't able to find any credibly still useable system man page which
didn't list -p.  (the fact that IRIX seems to have been one of very few to have
a long option '--parents' was an interesting archeological tidbit learned.)

> A larger issue is that blind "mkdir -p" may not produce the ownerships
> and permissions you want for the parent directories.  That's not a
> topic to get into in a one-line summary, though.

Agreed, we're skipping over lots of details in this short version.

I'll to make the mkdir -p change happen later today unless someone feels
strongly about leaving it out.

--
Daniel Gustafsson        https://vmware.com/

>> On 14 Mar 2022, at 15:01, Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us> wrote:
>>
>> Daniel Gustafsson <daniel@yesql.se> writes:
>>> On 13 Mar 2022, at 17:05, Daniel Westermann (DWE) <daniel.westermann@dbi-services.com> wrote:
>>>> Is it worth fixing that with "mkdir -p ..."?
>>
>>> Well, it will fail unless the user already had /usr/local/pgsql/, but I hear
>>> what you're saying.  Though I bet almost anyone following this will be able to
>>> figure it out but there is little to no value in not being correct.
>>
>> I think that at the time that was written, mkdir didn't universally
>> have a "-p" option.  But POSIX has required that for a very long
>> time, so it's probably safe to assume it now.

>Yeah, I wasn't able to find any credibly still useable system man page which
>didn't list -p.  (the fact that IRIX seems to have been one of very few to have
>a long option '--parents' was an interesting archeological tidbit learned.)

>> A larger issue is that blind "mkdir -p" may not produce the ownerships
>> and permissions you want for the parent directories.  That's not a
>> topic to get into in a one-line summary, though.

>Agreed, we're skipping over lots of details in this short version.

>I'll to make the mkdir -p change happen later today unless someone feels
>strongly about leaving it out.

Thank you Daniel and Tom
Regards
Daniel