The right way to not start daemons
OK, we've all probably seen the thread elsewhere about daemons that
should not be started, this email stemsfrom that but is not not about
it.
I've had a request in for LPRng (I'm the Debian maintainer) to have a
feature where lpd can be told not to start. I was going to put this in
the next version but there is a problem; which is the best way to do it.
These are the alternatives:
You have a file /etc/lprng/dont_start_lpd or similar if it exists then
you dont run the daemon. This is what ssh and pppd do
You have a file like /etc/lprng/lpd.options that may have a line in it
dont_run_lpd. init.d greps for it and if found doesn't start the
daemon.
I suppose there is a way of using debconf here too, perhaps there are
other ways.
The point is, should there be a single suggested method that all daemons
use? I think it would be nice that, for example, a user knew that
putting a file /etc/<package>/no_start_<daemon> worked for most
packages.
Of course there would be exceptions, but I think a guide would be good.
This is especially so for people like me who are about to implement it
and therefore can make a choice.
Please CC me on any replies, I'm not subbed to debian-devel
- Craig
--
Craig Small VK2XLZ GnuPG:1C1B D893 1418 2AF4 45EE 95CB C76C E5AC 12CA DFA5
Eye-Net Consulting http://www.eye-net.com.au/ <csmall@eye-net.com.au>
MIEEE <csmall@ieee.org> Debian developer <csmall@debian.org>
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