This particular issue has a history behind it; it did not just appear
out of the blue, if this is the impression that you get from the
latest thread.

Quite some time ago now (I forget the exact date, look in the tech-userlevel
archives to find it), this item was brought up for discussion. This
was done because it generally was felt that the monolithic scheme
was lacking needed features. Not by everyone, as you can see, but
we are sure that this is a minority (albeit a very vocal minority).

Luke took it upon himself to provide a new rc system. Discussions
followed. Unfortunately, this is one of the items that somehow
leads to "religious" arguments. Perhaps because it's one of the
last bastions of the original sysv/bsd differences. So, the
discussions never came to a conclusion. At some point, everything
that could have been said had been said, and everyone still seemed
to firmly believe that their way was the best way.

If I remember correctly, Luke came back with a proposal a 2nd time,
but it basically ended in the rehashing of the same old arguments.

At that point, you can only come to the conclusion that, if you want
something new, which we do, you are going to have to make a decision
and stick with it. It is impossible to please everyone. As you can
see, some people just hate the idea of the monolithic file(s)
disappearing, and some don't think that what Luke implemented
goes far enough. Whatever you do, some people will be displeased,
but such is life.

So, a decision was made to bring in Luke's work, and hopefully work
out some remaining issues with the input from the users on this
list. Some useful input was given, but unfortunately it all lead
to just another one of these long-winded, religiously-flavoured
threads. Most people have seen this kind of thing before, and
don't even bother participating anymore. So what is left are
messages by the people who like the new scheme the least, leading,
for a first time reader, to the impression that a scheme was
implemented with total disregard for the users, which isn't true.
The number of people who like the new system (although not perhaps
all its details) and told Luke (or me) so off this list does
outnumber the ones who are complaining now.

Call it whatever you like, but a decision has been taken about
the rc system. Like more decisions will be taken in the future
that not everyone likes, and have been in the past.

- Frank