Re: DHCP client with minimal functionality and size

["Steven M. Bellovin" <smb%cs.columbia.edu@localhost>]

On Sat, 12 Apr 2008 10:08:30 +0100 (BST)
David Brownlee <abs%NetBSD.org@localhost> wrote:

> On Sat, 12 Apr 2008, Steven M. Bellovin wrote:
> 
> > On Fri, 11 Apr 2008 15:04:20 -0400
> > Thor Lancelot Simon <tls%rek.tjls.com@localhost> wrote:
> >
> >> For all the flaws of ISC dhclient the use of scripts for managing
> >> configuration files after state changes, and the set of variables
> >> it provides to them, are very well thought out.  Done properly --
> >> dhclient does not do it properly! -- it should make a DHCP client
> >> smaller, not larger, since all the work of writing ntp.conf etc.
> >> can be deferred to the shell.
> >>
> > Thanks; I was about to post the same thing.  There are a fair
> > number of things I dislike about dhclient, but the scripts actually
> > help the size, since I already have a shell, ifconfig, etc., lying
> > around.
> 
>       Would you be happy if dhcpcd had options to disable various
>       of its setting actions and would call call out to a script at
>       those various points so you could have a similar setup to
>       dhclient?
> 
In general, I think that site-exits are good things -- I much prefer
customizing things without hacking code, since it makes much life much
easier when upgrading.

So -- yes, it would be useful.  That said, my agreement with Thor was
on size, not functionality.


                --Steve Bellovin, http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~smb