Re: better make a standard for /etc/*/*_not_to_be_run
On Sun, 10 Aug 2003 10:46:57 -0400, Noah L Meyerhans <noahm@debian.org> said:
> On Sun, Aug 10, 2003 at 04:40:50PM +0200, Bernd Eckenfels wrote:
>> On Sun, Aug 10, 2003 at 01:00:50AM -0400, Noah L. Meyerhans wrote:
>> > /etc/default/snmpd is sourced by the startup script and sets a
>> > variable SNMPDRUN=yes.
>>
>> I realy dont like abuse of a "default" directoryx for system local
>> config. Otherwise i like this schema, it is like irix was doing
>> it, and as redhat is doing it with sysconf.
> Yes, I'd really prefer to see /etc/default/ used for just that:
> package *defaults*. The files in there should not be conffiles, and
> packages should be free to overwrite files in there in the event
> that new versions have different appropriate default values. Then
> provide a similar mechanism for sysadmins to override those
> defaults.
In that case, why should the defaults not be in
/var/lib/defaults, or /usr/lib/defaults. and even
/usr/share/defaults?
I would not like to break the invariant that files under /etc
are under the users control, and user input is preserved.
There are two philosophies in tension here. One is that
presumes the user is not familiar with the program, and just wants ti
to "owrk", and the maintainer knows best how to make programs work
for such users.
The other is biased towards people who do know how their
stuff, and perhaps are using the programs in ways not immediately
obvious to the author/maintainer.
People espousing the former philosophy would like to ask the
suers a few questions, and then onwards take care of the nitty gritty
details of the configuration behind the scenes -- if one knows what
the user wants, one can provide it, and the end user need not be
bothered with the details.
I belong to the latter camp: I would prefer to be told about
any changes in configuration file syntax or preferred defaults (I
_like_ dpkg's conffile handling), but I would not like my values to
be just overridden. After all, rm does not warn me whenever I try
-rf ;-)
> The BSD systesms have /etc/default/rc.conf, for example, which is
> sourced by system startup scripts to set some default shell values.
> A sysadmin that doesn't want to change the defaults doesn't need to
> do anything. If he does want to change the defaults, he simply
> needs to put the variable assignment in /etc/rc.conf, which is also
> sourced by the system startup scripts, but *after*
> /etc/default/rc.conf.
> This is a very clean mechanism, and perhaps best of all it provides
> a very clear distinction between the distribution defaults and the
> local system defaults.
Hmm. Sounds like /usr/lib/defaults is a winner, here: the
admin merely has to populate /etc/defaults/foo with the proper values
taken from /usr/lib/defaults/foo (a comment at the top of an
initially empty /etc/defaulst/foo can tell the admin about system
defaults in /usr/lib/defaults/foo)
manoj
--
There are no winners in life, only survivors.
Manoj Srivastava <srivasta@debian.org> <http://www.debian.org/%7Esrivasta/>
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