Re: Configuration frontend

[Raul Miller <rdm@test.legislate.com>]

> > On Sun, Jan 24, 1999 at 11:59:02PM +0100, Wichert Akkerman wrote:
> > > Previously Aaron Van Couwenberghe wrote:
> > > > Here's the simplest way to do it; just have the interpreter (yes, we're
> > > > going to have to introduce a new scripting language for this, otherwise
> <...>
> > > I think I have to object here. Yes, it would make things a lot easier to
> > > use a new language. But I'm really worried about making things hard for
> > > developers.

The simplest thing to implement is configuration-by-example.

You configure a test system and as you configure it values are stored
in the db.

Then provide a few simple tools for editting that db.

If the configuration drifts such that some package doesn't get configured
properly, big-deal.  Unless the package is buggy, it won't install
properly, so the excercise of cleaning it up is fairly mechanical.

We are going to need per-package documentation on what they expect from
the config system (so that the person doing manual edits can get it
right).

But anyone deoplying hundreds of machines with the same configuration 
is going to test their configuration before deploying all those boxes.

-- 
Raul