[PATCH] bitbake.conf: make ROOT_HOME default match the rest of the world

[PATCH] bitbake.conf: make ROOT_HOME default match the rest of the world

[Paul Gortmaker]

All distros that I've ever used have /root as the home dir for
UID=0 (root) and even the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard lists
it as /root [1].  So if you've never come across the /home/root
thing before, it can violate the principle of least surprise.

In addition, using /home/root does suck if /home happens to be
on NFS, and you are trying to login as root to rescue something.

Change the default to be "/root" so we are consistent with the
rest of the world and the standards.  If someone wants /home/root
to be back compatible with earlier oe-core/yocto builds, they
can simply set ROOT_HOME themselves in their local.conf file.

[1] http://www.pathname.com/fhs/pub/fhs-2.3.html#ROOTHOMEDIRECTORYFORTHEROOTUSER

Signed-off-by: Paul Gortmaker <paul.gortmaker@windriver.com>

diff --git a/meta/conf/bitbake.conf b/meta/conf/bitbake.conf
index 5872d1d12cff..fecb45d173dd 100644
--- a/meta/conf/bitbake.conf
+++ b/meta/conf/bitbake.conf
@@ -74,8 +74,9 @@ USRBINPATH = "${bindir}"
 USRBINPATH_class-native = "/usr/bin"
 USRBINPATH_class-nativesdk = "/usr/bin"
 
-# Root home directory
-ROOT_HOME ??= "/home/root"
+# Root home directory, typically /root but optionally sometimes
+# /home/root if and only if /home is local and != NFS
+ROOT_HOME ??= "/root"
 
 ##################################################################
 # Architecture-dependent build variables.
-- 
1.9.1

Re: [PATCH] bitbake.conf: make ROOT_HOME default match the rest of the world

[Richard Purdie]

On Thu, 2014-07-31 at 15:19 -0400, Paul Gortmaker wrote:
> All distros that I've ever used have /root as the home dir for
> UID=0 (root) and even the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard lists
> it as /root [1].  So if you've never come across the /home/root
> thing before, it can violate the principle of least surprise.
> 
> In addition, using /home/root does suck if /home happens to be
> on NFS, and you are trying to login as root to rescue something.
> 
> Change the default to be "/root" so we are consistent with the
> rest of the world and the standards.  If someone wants /home/root
> to be back compatible with earlier oe-core/yocto builds, they
> can simply set ROOT_HOME themselves in their local.conf file.
> 
> [1] http://www.pathname.com/fhs/pub/fhs-2.3.html#ROOTHOMEDIRECTORYFORTHEROOTUSER
> 
> Signed-off-by: Paul Gortmaker <paul.gortmaker@windriver.com>

This is a key decision for OE so it needs to go to the OE-Core list.

Cheers,

Richard

Re: [PATCH] bitbake.conf: make ROOT_HOME default match the rest of the world

[Khem Raj]

On 14-08-04 17:39:31, Richard Purdie wrote:
> On Thu, 2014-07-31 at 15:19 -0400, Paul Gortmaker wrote:
> > All distros that I've ever used have /root as the home dir for
> > UID=0 (root) and even the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard lists
> > it as /root [1].  So if you've never come across the /home/root
> > thing before, it can violate the principle of least surprise.
> > 
> > In addition, using /home/root does suck if /home happens to be
> > on NFS, and you are trying to login as root to rescue something.
> > 
> > Change the default to be "/root" so we are consistent with the
> > rest of the world and the standards.  If someone wants /home/root
> > to be back compatible with earlier oe-core/yocto builds, they
> > can simply set ROOT_HOME themselves in their local.conf file.
> > 
> > [1] http://www.pathname.com/fhs/pub/fhs-2.3.html#ROOTHOMEDIRECTORYFORTHEROOTUSER
> > 
> > Signed-off-by: Paul Gortmaker <paul.gortmaker@windriver.com>
> 
> This is a key decision for OE so it needs to go to the OE-Core list.

I think it is a good improvement if it doesnt hamper upgrade paths, I
personally do not have a usecase of upgade.