Subject: /etc/default

From: Lukas Nellen <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 22 Jul 1996 21:52:07 -0500

Having followed the discussion about /etc/default for a while, I would
like to know:

What is the problem that /etc/default is supposed to solve? And how
and why is /etc/default the answer? 

Depending on the answer to those questions: Do we need /etc/default
(soon|eventually|never)? And why?

The problems with /etc which we have right now are (AFAIK):
	- Clutter
	- Configuration mechanism for scripts in /etc/init.d to avoid
	  editing the scripts themselves.

Related to /etc/default, I have seen several explanations about the
use of /etc/default in other systems. These explanations leave me with
the impression that /etc/default could be used to hold configuration
info for the scripts in /etc/init.d in the form of variable
assignments. To solve the problem of clutter, I don't see that
/etc/default will do the trick.

			Cheers,
				Lukas
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Dr. Lukas Nellen                 | Email: [email-masked]
   Depto. de Fisica Teorica, IFUNAM |
   Apdo. Postal 20-364              | Tel.:  +52 5 622 5014 ext. 218
   01000 Mexico D.F., MEXICO        | Fax:   +52 5 622 5015

---

From: Scott Barker <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 23 Jul 1996 09:36:16 -0600 (MDT)

Just thought I'd throw my $0.02 into this (prolonged) discussion...

When I look in /etc, I don't actually see a lot of clutter. What little
clutter there is can be avoided by having packages make themselves subdirs in
/etc to hold all their config files. We already have /etc/mail, /etc/news,
/etc/ppp, /etc/mgetty, /etc/X11, and so on. Some of the clutter can be cleaned
up by having /etc/minicom, /etc/slip, and other such subdirs. Also, some
remnants could be moved around (for example, /etc/aliases* could be moved into
/etc/mail. If some packages still need /etc/aliases*, symlinks could be put
into place until all packages have been changed to reflect the new location).

I think the primary purpose of /etc/default should be to hold parameters for
scripts which would otherwise have to be changed by the end user (such as
the scripts in /etc/init.d). This allows dpkg to safely upgrade to the latest
and greatest script in a package, without loosing the end user's modifications
(which would hopefully only be parameter modifications in a separate file).

It would be best if the files in /etc/default all followed a similar format
(like an sh script: # for comments, other lines blank or variable=value
format), but I don't think it's necessary. There's nothing stopping us from
reflecting the directory tree of /etc in /etc/default, either. If needed, we
could have /etc/default/init.d/, /etc/default/news/, and so forth.

-- 
Scott Barker
Linux Consultant
[email-masked]
http://www.cuug.ab.ca:8001/~barkers/   (under construction)

[ I try to reply to all e-mail within 3 days. If you don't   ]
[ get a response by then, I probably didn't get your e-mail. ]
[ Unsolicited commercial and junk e-mail will be proof-read for US$100 ]

"Where the world ceases to be the scene of our personal hopes and wishes,
   where we face it as free beings, admiring, asking and observing, there we
   enter the realm of Art and Science."
   - Albert Einstein

---

From: [email-masked] (Kai Henningsen)
Date: 23 Jul 1996 18:37:00 +0200

> /etc/default will do the trick.

Like I said, it solves not so much the existing clutter, but the future  
clutter that happens when we separate that config info out of those (and  
other) scripts.

MfG Kai