GNU standards: DESTDIR with symlinks

[Adrian Mariano]

I maintain GNU units.  I recently got a big fix patch from a
downstream installer who complained that symlinks weren't right with
DESTDIR, so I applied his patch.  Then I got a complaint from another
downstream maintainer that symlinks with DESTDIR were now broken, and
he wants the patch reverted.

I looked around in the GNU standards with regards to DESTDIR and found
no comment on this matter.  What is the official GNU position on
handling of symlinks with DESTDIR?

That is, should the symlink include $DESTDIR, so it is valid in-place?
In this case, moving the installation to its final location requires
that the simlinks be modified.  Or should the symlink refer to the
final destination, so it is invalid in-place but valid once the
installation is moved?