Re: XML as a standard UNIX config file format (Re: Caldera installation - something Debian should learn)
Ben Pfaff <pfaffben@pilot.msu.edu> writes:
> I've been watching this discussion over XML configuration files from
> the beginning, and I've got to say that I can see the reasoning of
> both sides. My suggestion is that someone in favor of XML for
> configuration get started on writing some actual code. Once there is
> some code, it may be possible to make more supportable arguments for
> either side.
How about this as a start, then:
Stage 1: Make it acceptable to have large number of things depend on
libxml or libxmltok or some other xml parsing library - get perl's
XML::Parser packaged if it isn't already. Perhaps this can be skipped
if it takes too long; having many things use xml may cause this
acceptance anyway.
Stage 2: Change all the _debian_specific_ tools to use XML, where
possible.
The best example would be something like dwww; I might also consider
/etc/gpm.conf as a candidate for XML-ization, but I can't say that
that makes a whole lot of sense. (having a shell script one can
source in the /etc/init.d script is just too useful)
Just looking around, /etc/fdmount.conf seems an excellent candidate
for XML-ization, although someone will surely argue that it's overkill
in that file.
What about /etc/suid.conf?
Stage 3: Look at what we've done as decide if it's good; if so, spread
the word to upstream authors.
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