On Wed, 17 Jan 1996, Greg Hudson wrote:

> Before adopting complicated schemes like this, I strongly suggest that
> people consider whether /etc/nsswitch.conf is any different from other
> configuration files used by libc (such as /etc/resolv.conf) and whether
> all these extra considerations (do programs need to be restarted to pick
> up changes, are we concerned about programs losing while the file is
> being updated by an editor, do we need to compile the configuration file
> into a database file to speed up lookups) are necessary.
> 
> I believe the conclusion you'll come to is that libc should parse the
> nsswitch.conf file at startup time and not make use of a db file.

I reach the conclusion that many other databases used by libc needs 
updating. Perhaps a standard method for handling these would be 
beneficial?

Peter