On Sun, 23 Nov 1997, Martin Husemann wrote:

> > The problem with ODM and Windows registry is that they can easily
> > become trashed to the point where one must re-install the OS.
> 
> "Easily" must be relative to your point of view.

As I've stated before, I've used the Novell bindery extensively,
and had a moderate amount (more than I care to have had) with the
Windows registry. Both have been more unreliable than a Unix /etc
directory by a good order of magnitude.

> And of course, you
> should backup essential stuff like this ;-)

How? Let's say settings for application A get trashed on Tuesday,
but you don't know yet that it's happened. On Wednesday you install
application B, which makes a whole pile of changes to the registry.
On Thursday you realise that application A was trashed, but you
can't restore the whole registry as of Monday, because then you
blow away your application B changes. This sort of situation is
what I'm constantly having to deal with when I work with registries.

cjs

Curt Sampson    cjs@portal.ca	   Info at http://www.portal.ca/
Internet Portal Services, Inc.	   Through infinite mist, software reverberates
Vancouver, BC  (604) 257-9400	   In code possess'd of invisible folly.