Re: /etc/profile should include sbin in PATH

[Raul Miller <moth@debian.org>]

On Mon, Dec 27, 1999 at 10:06:49PM -0500, Brian Mays wrote:
> Thus, ifconfig's own documentation appears to state that ifconfig is
> an administrator's tool. Indeed, I think that you are too focused on
> classifying a tool as "useful for ordinary users" if there is even a
> remote possibility that it might be run by an ordinary user.

[Aside: please take everything I say here with a grain of salt.
I'm currently fighting a fever, and that may be affecting how I think
about things.]

ifconfig has uses for an ordinary user.  It's manual page does not suggest
any alternative program which the user should have in their path instead.

Perhaps the third sentence of the first paragraph of the DESCRIPTION
in ifconfig's man page should be omitted.  This sentence certainly does not
document any useful feature of the program.

> Instead of focusing of what a user *might* run, I prefer to focus
> on the purpose of each utility.

How about focussing on what people *do* run?

> If a user periodically needs to perform such administrative tasks
> under his user account, he can modify the path on that account.

(1) The FHS suggests that the user should not have to change his path.

(2) Many (most?) debian systems are single user machines.

Why is it a good idea to distribute a system which consistently requires
the same change from many (most?) users?

-- 
Raul