Subject: Possible rc.conf / default/rc.conf enhancements...
To: None <tech-userlevel@netbsd.org>
From: Luke Mewburn <lukem@cs.rmit.edu.au>
List: tech-userlevel
Date: 09/23/2000 15:25:59
After seeing all the feedback that occurred after my change to migrate
the guts of etc/rc.conf -> etc/default/rc.conf (*), I've considered
the following enhancements to the implementation:
1. Rename /etc/default -> /etc/defaults
This is consistent with FreeBSD, who seem to have a similar
concept.
It also overcomes the objections that some people had with
the name `/etc/default' being used in SVR4 for a different
purpose.
2. Put commented-out defaults in /etc/rc.conf
Perry mentioned to me recently that maybe having the defaults
still in rc.conf but commented out might be a win.
After setting up a machine for my father-in-law, I'm thinking
that there may be a point here.
But, I don't want to require that developers must keep two
files in sync, so I propose something like:
etc/rc.conf.template - contains what etc/rc.conf does now
etc/defaults/rc.conf - as it is now
and build etc/rc.conf with something like the following
Makefile fragment:
cp ${SRCDIR}/rc.conf.template rc.conf
cat <<_foo_ >> rc.conf
#
# The rest of this file has been generated from /etc/default/rc.conf
# as an example. If you upgrade /etc/default, be sure to take into
# account any differences between the old and new /etc/default/rc.conf.
#
_foo_
sed -e 's/^[^#]/#&/' < ${SRCDIR}/defaults/rc.conf >> rc.conf
I feel that these changes would:
- Keep the people happy who want the info in one file.
- Still allows us to upgrade /etc/defaults/rc.conf to setup
sane defaults and make upgrades easier.
- Doesn't require developers to modify the information in
two locations.
- Doesn't have a name conflict with SVR4 and has easier
sysadmin compatibility with FreeBSD
Thoughts?
Luke.