[chef] Using platform_family in a provider?

[Christopher Armstrong < >]

Ohai Chefs,

I'm doing some Christmas Eve hacking, and I think I'm not approaching something properly.

Here is what I'm trying to do: https://github.com/socrata-cookbooks/java/pull/111/files

Essentially, I need to conditionalize code in a provider based on the node's platform_family, but I don't believe I have access to the node objects or methods within a provider. I could pass it in as a parameter, but that seems clunky - the user of the provider shouldn't care about this detail. It's something I want to abstract.

Could someone point me in the right direction? I still get confused about what Chef methods are available in recipes, libraries, providers, etc.

Happy Holidays!

Chris