Init : someone could comment this ?

[Nils Philippsen]

On Mon, 2008-01-07 at 11:49 -0600, Les Mikesell wrote:
> Nils Philippsen wrote:
> 
> >> I think, when somebody wants to run a server, he has to understand how
> >> it works and how to configure it.  When admin can not figure out correct
> >> cmdline options, how can he configure the server in a secure manner?
> > 
> > Along that line, everybody should be able to run configure && make &&
> > make install and wrap their own packages, so why should we bother ;-)?
> > Seriously, I can cope with command line arguments and still like
> > sysconfig files that are more understandable than just plain
> > "OPTS='--foo -x=y -a'". I'm happy if I get things done without having to
> > read the documentation for the common case. I'm not saying admins
> > shouldn't be able to influence the cmd line options directly if they
> > wish.
> 
> If you change that to some abstraction that you think is easier to 
> understand, how do you propose (a) that sysadmins that already knew the 
> real options should deal with the now confusing abstraction

E.g. like with the old /etc/sysconfig/hdparm, you could use "speaking
options" but have an "HDPARM_OPTS" variable (or some name like that)
which would just passed on the command line.


>  and (b) that 
> the abstraction (and its documentation) always stays in sync with 
> upstream changes/additions to the underlying program's options?  It is 
> already fairly messy trying to track what options have been moved to new 
> locations under /etc/sysconfig in fedora/RH boxes and which are still in 
> their normal locations.

That's the job of the maintainer of the concerned package: to ensure
that sysconfig options he introduced get mapped to the correct set of
command line arguments. If those change, the mapping has to change.

Nils
-- 
     Nils Philippsen    /    Red Hat    /    nphilipp at redhat.com
"Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary
 Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."  --  B. Franklin, 1759
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