openresolv vs. resolvconf
I am interested in how openresolv stacks up against resolvconf.
For starters the openresolv home page conveniently compares[0] openresolv with resolvconf.
> * Works with POSIX shell and userland
Nice. Resolvconf requires bash. But since resolvconf scripts are short, and bash is Essential in Debian, this doesn't seem like a major advantage.
> * Does not need awk, grep or sed which means we can work without /usr mounted
Resolvconf does not use awk. It does use grep and sed but these aren't under /usr. This is no accident: resolvconf was also designed to work without /usr mounted.
> * Works with other init systems than Debians' out of the box
> * Available as a 2 clause BSD license
Compatibility with non-Debian systems is an advantage if it has the result that most distros can standardize on one package. Resolvconf has been ported to other distros and a quick Google search reveals that openresolv is available for several distros, but I don't know
what the adoption statuses of the packages are.
Resolvconf is GPL.
> * Prefer configs via IF_METRIC for dynamic ordering
Sounds like a good idea. If two addresses are available, put the one available via a route with the lowest metric first in the nameserver list. Resolvconf doesn't do this at present.
> * Configures zones for local resolvers other than libc
Resolvconf and openresolv are primarily middleware that mediate between interface configurers and name servers and resolvers. Both can and do support alternative resolvers to the glibc resolver, via hook scripts. Any hook scripts for one can presumably be ported quite
easily to the other and vice versa.
An important advantage of openresolv could be that it isn't, like resolvconf, undermaintained[1]. If openresolv is truly a drop-in replacement for resolvconf then migration from resolvconf to openresolv would be one way of solving this undermaintenance problem.
What further pros and cons do people see out there?
[0]http://roy.marples.name/projects/openresolv/wiki/OpenResolvReasons
[1]http://bugs.debian.org/477723
--
Thomas Hood
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