Re: RFC: A method to use Admin tools, like linuxconf
On 20 Feb 1997, Manoj Srivastava wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I think we are approching this backwards. Rather than
> identifying the drawbacks and defining requirements, people are
> jumping to implementaions and pre-existing tools (in some ways, if
> all you look at is a hammer, you try to convince yourself that all
> the problems are nails).
Actually, that is what the Linuxconf people did, they identified what
they didn't like about init and config programs and they defined the req.
to fix them, and they set out to fix them.
>
> This is also true of the debmake thread.
>
> If the problem is fine tuning the system, there may be
> alternative solutions, I don't want to either a) change our init process
> or b) accept a partial compromise. If we need a tool badly enough,
> we should create one.
>
On a) I don't want to get rid of our init proccess, just put in an
abstraction layer, so that if people do want to use Linuxconf, it will
work, the abstraction layer will only come in to play when dpkg
configures the package. The "configure" program will read the database
file, and make whatever links or drop-ins are neccesary. The databse
should never be consulted by init or Linuxconf directly. and on b) how
is this a partial compromise. All I am trying to do is design a system
where we can have an option, we don't have to be tied down in one system.
Shaya
> >>"Shaya" == Shaya Potter <spotter@itd.nrl.navy.mil> writes:
>
> Shaya> It doesn't have to usurp the users role of init if you choose
> Shaya> to not have it. You can't use all of its features then, but it
> Shaya> is still very usuable. It also uses the conventional files
> Shaya> found on a linux system for storing the data, such as
> Shaya> /etc/networks, sendmail.cf, the files neccesary for DNS, and
> Shaya> such. All this can be done without linuxconf taking over
> Shaya> init's role. Then again Linuxconf's dropins do have a few
> Shaya> advantages over our plain scripts (as they exist now that is,
> Shaya> at least), such as a bad program shouldn't hang the system.
> Shaya> Linuxconf's says it monitors the loading of these programs and
> Shaya> "should" allow you to continue if a program hangs. This
> Shaya> happened to me once, when my debian system died. The system
> Shaya> came up fine, fsck'd and fixed the disked as well as it could,
> Shaya> but it seemed xntp got corrupted, so when the daemon loaded the
> Shaya> system just hung. I had to boot into single user mode to fix
> Shaya> it, sometimes this might not be a good option.
>
> Shaya> Shaya
>
>
>
>
> --
> Manoj Srivastava <url:mailto:srivasta@acm.org>
> Mobile, Alabama USA <url:http://www.datasync.com/%7Esrivasta/>
>
>
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