Re: insserv + apache2 + bind9 = pain
On Tue December 28 2010 10:56:48 Camaleón wrote:
> JFYI:
>
> apache2: fails to start with dependency based boot if DNS is required by
> configuration
> http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=606334
Thank you for the link but the bug is not in Apache. The
bug is the poorly thought out and poorly documented startup
mechanism which is being pushed onto previously stable and
reliable Debian servers.
People have also encountered problems with MySQL, Request
Tracker, Apache, and Bind. We haven't even started testing
LDAP, Samba, Postfix, ClamSMTP, ClamAV, Quagga, YP/NIS,
WordPress etc in the various combinations and with the
various configurations and various plugins employed on
different servers.
If anyone doubts it's a nightmare, take a look at the sysv-rc
changelog and see how many special case hacks and weeks of
effort went into getting insserv to work with just a virgin
Linux system with no significant services running.
Remember that configuring the priorities of N services is O(N),
while configuring all their dependencies is O(N*N). It just
doesn't scale on real world servers. You're breaking stable
Debian servers and pushing all the repair work on Debian users
and sysadmins. FOR NO GOOD REASON.
What's worse is that the startup sequence is not repeatable.
A service required may just happen to be ready in time on most
reboots but start up a little slower sometimes and thus cause
intermittent failures. Analyzing every piece of code and
configuration on a system - some of it written more than ten
years ago - is a nightmare.
It's the Microsoft way to use a separate box for each service
but prior to Squeeze it has always been a big selling point for
Debian that you could always add another service to a box and
it would just work. In the past Debian has worked REALLY WELL
for small businesses and schools.
There's no VALID reason for FORCING insserv on Debian servers
other than someone's desire to see his/her software being used.
So I will repeat the key question, and with increased desperation:
How do we run the old reliable Snn/Knn style startup mechanism
in Squeeze?
--Mike Bird
Reply to: