Re: Scary bugs

[Thierry Laronde <thierry.laronde@polynum.com>]

Hello,

On Fri, Jan 28, 2000 at 06:55:58PM -0500, Andrew Pimlott wrote:
[..]
> I agree.  Below is a bug I sent on or around May 7.  (I do not know the
> bug ID because I didn't save the response.  I do know it was in the bug
> db for some time.)  It is no longer in the bug database because the
> maintainer closed it.  At the time I did not verify the fix, but if
> memory serves, the maintainer said he removed the offending line.  It
> seems that he did not.  Perhaps someone who knows how to dig up old
> closed bugs can figure out exactly why it was closed.

I've just downloaded the new version of the package. The problem is that
something has been done, but this is the wrong thing !
Now, this is one of the first line that is commented out :


	start)
		if [ ! -f /etc/adjtime ]
		then
			echo "0.0 0 0.0" > /etc/adjtime
		fi
		# hwclock --adjust $GMT
		hwclock --hctosys $GMT

So what /etc/adjtime is made for isn't used ! /etc/adjtime is supposed to
correct the systematic drift of the hardware clock. And the best place to
do that is just before the system clock is set.

And the problem is that the "offending" line is still here :
	
	stop|restart|reload)
		[ "$GMT" = "-u" ] && GMT="--utc"
		hwclock --systohc $GMT
		if [ "$VERBOSE" != no ]
		then
			echo "CMOS clock updated to `date`."
		fi
		;;
	
The result is that the hwclock is spoiled by the system clock if this one
is not accurate, and that /etc/adjtime is modified by the instruction
`hwclock --systohc'. In this case, there is no hope for someone modifying
his hardware clock to have something working.

So this is definitively *not* an upstream problem. The bug sent by you 
Andrew has been closed because something has been done, but IMHO what
has been done is a mistake.

For a standalone workstation, or a LAN without an "atomic clock" used via
NTP, the "reference" is the hardware clock.

The beginner can't figure out that `date' is a "cosmetic" adjustment (surface),
while `adjitmex' tones the internal of the system clock and that the 
hardware clock is only used as a memory, a backup.

We do need to break, *by default*, the vicious circle sets by the init script.

Cheers,
-- 
Thierry LARONDE
thierry.laronde@polynum.com
website : http://www.polynum.com