Re: RFC: OpenRC as Init System for Debian
Uoti Urpala <uoti.urpala@pp1.inet.fi> writes:
> Gergely Nagy wrote:
>> Uoti Urpala <uoti.urpala@pp1.inet.fi> writes:
>> > Not having the files in /etc by default does have technical advantages.
>> > It's easier to see what is local non-default configuration. Original
>> > default file is always available in a known location (and very easy to
>> > revert to, temporarily for testing or permanently). You can use
>> > ".include /lib/defaultsfile" then override some value, which in most
>> > cases is more maintainable than the 3-way merging required by
>> > "traditional" conffiles.
>>
>> Perhaps then the packages that right now ship symlinks to /lib/systemd/
>> stuff could be changed to ship a file that consists of a single .include
>> line?
>
> Note that the general case is not just about existing symlinks, but also
> cases were /etc contains no file unless you want to override default
> configuration, and the program then reads the default from /lib
> instead.
That is an easy case: the package shouldn't ship neither a symlink, nor
any other override.
Though, there's one more case where a symlink/override is required: when
you're dealing with a package that implements a special service, such as
a syslogd: those need to register themselves as syslog.service.
>> That way, they can be treated as normal conffiles without any of the
>> disadvantages of a symlink. diffing and whatnot will magically work, and
>> we'd still have the benefit of having /lib/systemd/ separate from the
>> /etc/systemd/ overrides.
>
> I don't see how this would avoid the need to improve dpkg diffing or add
> another tool.
It would only highlight the case where the /lib thing moved. Nothing
else - but that's still an improvement. And if one uses include &
overrides instead of copy & change, then bugfixes made to the original
are more likely to get used.
Pretty much how a snippet in /etc/default works - the init script
including it can change, and you get no notice at all if you didn't
change it. You only get notified when the /etc/default/$foo file changes
too.
For important stuff, there's NEWS.Debian still, and then we don't need
any special tool.
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