[opam-devel] Package requires copying into a system directory

[Dario Teixeira]

Hi,

I have a Camlhighlight package which is almost ready for pushing
to the main OPAM repository.  There's a snag, however: proper
installation requires that the file "src/sexp.outlang" be copied
into the system directory "/usr/share/source-highlight".  This
is of course the sort of thing that requires root permissions,
which makes OPAM installation as a user more troublesome.


I've submitted a request for sexp.outlang to be shipped
by default with GNU Source-highlight [1].  Once that happens,
this problem will be moot.  It will take some time, however,
for a new GNU Source-highlight version to percolate down to
user distros, which is why an interim solution must be found.
Moreover,  it doesn't seem like GNU Source-highlight supports
a user data directory along side the system one, unfortunately.
(I've asked on their mailing-list anyway.)


Anyway, my current approach is to use OPAM's support for post-messages
to let the user know that the installation won't be complete until they

manually copy the sexp.outlang file [2].  Still, I'm wondering if someone
has encountered a similar problem before and has a better solution.


Thanks in advance for your time!
Best regards,
Dario Teixeira


[1] https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?42994
[2] https://github.com/darioteixeira/opam-dario/tree/master/packages/camlhighlight.9999/opam