should file ncrack-services go to /etc?

[Martin Gieseking]

Toshio Kuratomi schrieb:
> On 09/22/2009 02:43 AM, Martin Gieseking wrote:
>> Am 21.09.2009 23:24, Till Maas wrote:
>>> On Mon, Sep 21, 2009 at 04:58:32PM -0400, Casey Dahlin wrote:
>>>> On 09/21/2009 04:04 PM, Till Maas wrote:
>>>>> On Mon, Sep 21, 2009 at 08:47:24PM +0200, Martin Gieseking wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> during the review of ncrack 
>>>>>> (https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=523199) I noticed that
>>>>>> the  file ncrack-services is placed in /usr/share/ncrack by
>>>>>> default. Since it  is a kind of configuration file that contains
>>>>>> mappings between port  numbers and protocol names (similar to
>>>>>> /etc/services), I'm not sure  whether the location
>>>>>> /usr/share/ncrack is OK or whether it's required to  move it to
>>>>>> /etc. Here's its content:
>>>>> Imho it does not need to be moved to /etc, because it should only be
>>>>> edited by experienced users and then the user can specify a the edited
>>>>> file at the commandline.
>>>>>
>>>> Neither of which are factors considered by the FHS.
>>> Since the file is not meant to be edited, it is not a host-specific
>>> config file, but a package version specific config file, which is
>>> managed by upstream and not by the user. So from the users point of
>>> view, it's more a data file than a config file.
>> Casey and Till,
>>
>> thanks for your comments. If I interpret them correctly, there's no
>> Fedora policy that demands moving the file to /etc even if /etc could
>> also be a proper location. Then we can finish the review of ncrack. :)
>>
> This is an Incorrect summary.  Fedora has a policy of following the FHS.
>  If the files are config, then they go in /etc.  Till is making
> incorrect statements when he uses this reasoning:
> 
> """
> Imho it does not need to be moved to /etc, because it should only be
> edited by experienced users and then the user can specify a the edited
> file at the commandline.
> """
> 
> The level of experience of the user is irrelevant.  If the user edits
> the file to configure the program, then it goes into /etc.
> 
> In his next message, though, he says this:
> """
> Since the file is not meant to be edited, it is not a host-specific
> config file
> """
> 
> and concludes that the file is a data file.  This is a more correct
> stating of the Guidelines.
> 
>>> Btw. as far as I understand the program, if the config file is changed,
>>> then an addional module, which is written in C++, that covers the new
>>> service needs to be added, too.
>> Not necessarily. There might be scenarios where you want to change the
>> default ports for several services, maybe because the ssh daemons in
>> your local network are configured to listen on port 12345. In this case
>> the admin possibly would like to adapt the default settings of ncrack.
>>
> 
> This means that the file must go in /etc.
> 
> -Toshio
> 

Toshio,

thanks for the clarification and sorry for the hasty conclusion. I will
continue reviewing the package and help to patch the sources if necessary.

Martin