having prefix='' by default is non standard and confusing
Metadata
Current evaluation
Autotools no longer forces an empty prefix, but still leaves it unset; the requested /usr default remains unimplemented, so source-built and staged Debian data paths can disagree.
Suggested action: keep open
Reason: The issue was marked Confirmed after reports from multiple projects, including gucharmap, Pithos, and Corebird, with a clear failure involving GSettings schemas and a working --prefix=/usr workaround. The current Autotools plugin uses an empty default parameter list rather than --prefix=/usr, so the requested consistent default is not implemented and upstream defaults can still cause path mismatches.
Evaluated by: mr-cal-bot
Impact:
48
Quick Win:
27
Complexity:
35
Confidence:
92
Actionability:
86
Issue body
The autotools plugin default to an empty prefix if you install by destdir (which is default), that's quite non standard and can create confusion, is there any reason to not use the upstream default (/usr/local) or the distribution default (/usr)?
I hit the issue while packaging gucharmap, the glib schemas got installed in $snap/share but the other schemas coming from the deb parts are in $snap/usr/share, our default wrapper set things to look in $snap/usr/share and it the program was not finding its schemas.
Things works after using "configflags: [--prefix=/usr]" but ideally that would be the default
Evaluation history
| Date | Model | Scores | Action | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| stealth/space-bunny-alpha |
Impact:
48
Quick Win:
27
Complexity:
35
Confidence:
92
Actionability:
86
|
keep open | Autotools no longer forces an empty prefix, but still leaves it unset; the requested /usr default remains unimplemented, so source-built and staged Debian data paths can disagree. | |
| stealth/space-bunny-alpha |
Impact:
45
Quick Win:
25
Complexity:
35
Confidence:
86
Actionability:
87
|
close resolved | The autotools plugin once forced an empty --prefix, placing packaged data under $SNAP/share; the current plugin leaves prefix unset and uses the project's default. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Impact:
35
Quick Win:
17
Complexity:
20
Confidence:
55
Actionability:
60
|
needs triage | Autotools plugin defaults to empty prefix, causing schema files to install in wrong paths; user requests defaulting to /usr or /usr/local instead. | |
| qwen/qwen3.8-27b |
Impact:
45
Quick Win:
27
Staleness:
95
Complexity:
40
Confidence:
60
Support Request:
25
|
needs triage | Autotools plugin defaults to an empty prefix when installing via destdir, causing files (e.g. glib schemas) to land in $snap/share instead of $snap/usr/share. Reporter worked around it with configflags: [--prefix=/usr]. No maintainer response; 0 comments, no labels, ~10 years old. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Staleness:
98
Complexity:
15
Confidence:
90
Support Request:
10
|
close stale | Autotools plugin defaults to empty prefix when using destdir, causing non-standard paths and schema lookup failures. Issue is over 10 years old with no maintainer response. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Staleness:
95
Complexity:
15
Confidence:
85
Support Request:
10
|
close stale | Autotools plugin defaults to empty prefix during destdir installs, causing schema path mismatches in packaging. No maintainer response in over 10 years. Likely outdated given Snapcraft's significant evolution. | |
| qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6 |
Staleness:
98
Complexity:
15
Confidence:
85
Support Request:
10
|
close stale | Autotools plugin defaults to empty prefix during destdir installs, causing non-standard paths and schema lookup failures. No maintainer response in over 9 years. |
Update history
| Date | Change |
|---|---|
| created |
Related issues
No related issues found above the similarity threshold.