I'm considering modifying the Dovecot source to support a runtime designation for the root directory instead of relying on the prefix provided via configure. Once complete, it would be possible to move the root directory around somewhat ad-hoc after installation without having to rebuild the source. The primary driver for this is that I'd like to wrap a binary build of Dovecot within an OSX application bundle. These bundles can be placed anywhere the user desires, so Dovecot couldn't rely on a particular build-defined root directory.

Before I get too far down the path, I'd like to know if there's a desire for this type of enhancement. If so, I'd like to provide a diff that would meet any other requirements for this change. There are two methods I was considering. Feel free to suggest a better alternative as I'm not ecstatic about either at the moment.

1. Find and change all uses of the prefix directory to instead prepend a value obtained from the environment (say, DOVECOT_ROOT_DIR).

2. Find and change all uses of the prefix directory to instead prepend a value obtained from the configuration file (say, a new setting called "dovecot_root_dir").

In either case, if the value was not available or not a valid directory, I would fall back to the build prefix. I would also make this functionality optional via configure--defaulted "off".

-brad