On Fri, May 11, 2012 at 11:08:32AM -0400, Marvin Renich wrote: > The FHS is very specific that /etc is for *Host-specific* system > configuration, not upstream defaults or distribution-specific > configuration. The clear intent is that this is where files that are > intended to be modified by the local system administrator are placed. No, this is a total retcon. When the FHS was written, this was definitely NOT a shared understanding of a difference between "host-specific configuration" and "upstream defaults / distribution-specific configuration". Distribution defaults still would go in /etc whenever it was expected that an admin might want to edit the file. This has been the convention for more than a decade. > Files containing distribution-specific defaults, whether they match some > definition of "configuration file" or not, do not belong here unless the > they are also intended to be edited by the local sysadmin. Yes. The issue is not that either system is a violation of the standard, because intent is relevant here. If the upstream *intends* the file to be a template that's overridden using a separate file, then /usr is the right place. If the upstream intends the user to edit the provided file to make their changes, it belongs in /etc. If the defaults are built into the binary, that's perfectly fine too. What *is* an issue is when upstreams decide to ship their defaults in /usr, but require users to duplicate information between /usr templates and /etc config files and ignore the contents of /usr in favor of the contents of /etc. This is also not a violation of FHS, but it IS a crappy design. When software is not able to override configuration *settings* with fine granularity via /etc, the entire thing should go under /etc. Doing otherwise makes this horrible for upgrades. -- Steve Langasek Give me a lever long enough and a Free OS Debian Developer to set it on, and I can move the world. Ubuntu Developer http://www.debian.org/ slangasek@ubuntu.com vorlon@debian.org
Attachment:
signature.asc
Description: Digital signature