Re: Usermode splash screen/boot. what's the best approach?
I don't think alternatives would work.
Let's think about it for a sec:
debsplash-utils has a .preinst/.prerm/.pre* whatever rule that sets up
the alternative for rc. It first needs to rename the current rc script
to whatever (rc.sysv-rc), and then setup an alternative to point
/etc/init.d/rc to our rc.debsplash package. Then we have to put that
back when the package is removed.
But, there is a number of problems with this:
- what if the sysadmin modified their rc script (is a config file
according to debian policy) to do whatever other thing? (we might
check the md5sum of it, or use ucd or whatever debian mechanism for
checking this file hasn't been changed)
- what if the script was abruptly stopped after you renamed the script
to something else and the alternative wasn't properly setup? the user
would be left with an unbootable machine (say the hard drive got full
or there was a power outage... whatever)
- what if others wanted to port debsplash to other distros or debian
flavors, then we will add a dependancy on update-alternatives (and
whatever package contains that)
The best solution of all is to NOT do it automatically but put a note
on the README file and let users deal with this file by hand (this is
what's currently in CVS). That will always work.
Forking sysv-rc complements the do-it-by-hand way in that we can
suggest this new debsplash-sysv-rc package and let users be done with
it. dpkg will determine, by the regular installing mechanisms, if the
rc script needs updating or can simply be replaced by this new rc
script when unpacking.
Let's remember that our fork of sysv-rc will only change the rc script
and nothing else. Whenever there is a new sysv-rc package, we will
simply redo or own with the files from this one.
For the meantime, I sent an email to Miquel (sysv-rc maintainer) about
adding "hooks" to the current rc to allow sysadmins to do whatever
they want for each script started by rc. Let's see what he says about
that.
On Wed, 05 Jan 2005 00:14:22 -0500, Matthew A. Nicholson
<matt@matt-land.com> wrote:
> Maybe we should set up some kind of /etc/alternatives thing for the rc scripts.
> I don't think making an alternative sysv-rc packages is the right way to go.
>
> Luis M wrote:
> > I just committed a few things to remove all the dpkg-divert* related
> > stuff from the debsplash-utils package.
> > You can get the source from Alioth's debsplash CVS repository and test
> > away. Remember to backup /etc/init.d/rc before you install
> > debsplash-utils (just in case). If anything goes wrong, you can simply
> > re-install sysv-rc.
> >
> > After installing the debsplash-utils package, you will need to copy
> > /usr/share/doc/debsplash-utils/scripts/rc to /etc/init.d/rc by hand
> > (for now). Soon I'll have the sysv-rc fork ready, which will install
> > this file automatically for end-users.
> >
> > I have a pre-patched kernel that people can use, to get it point your
> > browsers to:
> >
> > http://www.latinomixed.com/downloads/debian-embelisher/deb
> >
> > Please be kind to my bandwith as I have NONE. That's a shitty
> > connection. Mirroing or .torrent-ing those files would be very good.
> >
> > I'll also be putting the new debsplash-* deb packages in that URL soon...
> >
> > Enjoy!
> >
>
> --
> Matthew A. Nicholson
> Matt-land.com
>
--
----)(-----
Luis M
System Administrator
LatinoMixed.com
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you work on your computer when you want to turn your brain on" --
Steve Jobs in an interview for MacWorld Magazine 2004-Feb
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