Re: itp: static bins / resolving static debian issues

[Justin Wells <jread@semiotek.com>]

On Fri, Aug 20, 1999 at 07:34:06AM -0400, Michael Stone wrote:

> > A reboot IS necessary with the current toolbox, unless you can explain 
> > to me how I would get into a root shell (even with sash installed).
> 
> Open getty. Open network connection. Change root's shell to sash. (The
> latter is a local configuration issue--some people might not want remote
> root logins, others might not want sash as their shell.)

OK, if roots shell gets switched to sash then yes, this works. I thought
you were opposed to that, hence my comment above. I guess just a 
misunderstanding here.

> > You should be a little less hostile now, we seem to be arguing about 
> > less and less, so there has actually been some progress. Many people
> > see merit in my arguments, and have posted that they do, so you 
> > should stop calling them bogus and stick to the issues.
> 
> Except that you still haven't answered the question of what the current
> toolkit prevents you from doing, other than arguing issues of personal
> preference. That's why I call you a troll. (Because you refuse to answer
> a basic technical question and instead cloud the issue with unrelated
> discussions.)

OK, I've posted this before, but here is what you can do with static 
binaries that you cannot do without them:

  -- recover from an administrator error, such as someone mis-using
     dpkg or "rm -rf *" in a way that leaves the dynamics broken, and
     doing so without disturbing your clients who are connecting to
     servers on your box (servers are linked and loaded already)

  -- recover from a bug in dpkg or apt that results in broken dynamics,
     this has never happened in stable yet, but it might. it has 
     happened several times in unstable (and been fixed). you can't
     promise me that stable is bug free, only that it is more bug 
     free than unstable 

  -- keep a system limping longer if / and /usr goes away (I 
     have actually done this) providing a few bins are in the
     disk cache. I kept a system live for about 30min once, 
     after the IDE cable fell out. Dynamics fail.

  -- fix a system for someone who isn't as aware of these issues as
     i am, and didn't know to install sash

  -- someone can fix a system after it fails, if they never knew about
     sash and never thought about statics or live recovery, because it
     had never happened to them before (likely) because the tools they
     require are provided (they discover with a great sign of relief
     that YES!! i can get a root shell, usually followed by a public
     shout of glee, "man i love unix"

  -- bring a failed system down gracefully after a failure, closing down
     daemons by sending them kill signals, and umounting drives 
     manually if necessary (remember the shutdown is going to fail
     since it is reliant on dynamics)

The point here is live recovery, the current toolkit adequately 
provides for "hit the power switch and insert boot disk" recovery.

Justin