[ On Tuesday, June 25, 2002 at 15:26:14 (-0400), Steven M. Bellovin wrote: ]
> Subject: Re: rc.local and rcorder(8) 
>
> This is crucial.  Updating /etc is the most difficult -- and 
> error-prone -- part of doing a system upgrade.  Anything that involves 
> more intermingling of local and distribution directories is a pain.  
> (etcupdate is a step in the right direction.  I'm far from convinced 
> it's the full answer.)

Updating /etc/rc.d scripts is not anywhere near so difficult as the rest
of /etc.  (and for the latter the new etcupdate, though still _very_
rough around the edges, is already a very huge improvement over anything
I've ever seen in the past)

Since each script is in a separate file, and provided the rc.subr API
stays backwards compatible (I'm not sure it has between 1.5 and 1.6, but
it should from now on), the only issue is with filename clashes, and
that's a much smaller issue once system files are registered in a
package, and provided most add-on software is also installed as
packages -- conflict detection is automatic.

In the recent binary distributions I've built I include all the system
supplied scripts (/etc/rc* and /etc/rc.d/*, as well as all the other
similar things like /etc/daily, etc.) in base.tgz, so updating the
system scripts is always done, and on production systems I've moved to
using packages for all add-on software even if I have to write my own
pkgsrc module to do so -- and I always verify that no package-supplied
file conflicts with any system-supplied file.


> /etc.local/rc.d might be a better solution.  Generalize as needed for 
> other files that need to be customized...

That doesn't really solve the problems I see -- just create more of them.  ;-)

-- 
								Greg A. Woods

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