One of the little pains of an upgrade is rebuilding /etc/rc.conf.  What
if we moved the clean /etc/rc.conf to /etc/rc.defaults and started
with an empty /etc/rc.conf that users could override /etc/rc.defaults
settings? /etc/rc would then:

	if [ -f /etc/rc.defaults ]; then
		. /etc/rc.defaults
	fi
	if [ -f /etc/rc.conf ]; then
		. /etc/rc.conf
	fi

In this case, the /etc/rc.conf on my home alpha would then have just:

	rc_configured=YES
	hostname="thoreau.thistledown.com.au"
	defaultroute="way.thistledown.com.au"
	ntpdate=YES
	ifconfig_epic0="inet thoreau netmask 255.255.255.224"
	named=YES
	xntpd=YES
	sendmail=YES
	dhcpd=YES
	xfs=YES
	xdm=YES
	nfs_server=YES

and next time I upgrade I can copy a new /etc/rc.conf over the top of
the existing one and not worry about killing the existing configuration.

There are other .conf files in /etc, but none as complex as rc.conf.

Comments?

Simon.