> I would not call that a consensus, not by any stretch of the
> imagination.
> 
> I'd call that a clear majority...and as I (and others, I think) have
> said, majority *isn't the point* - or else the Project should toss what
> it has and start shipping Windows, or at least Linux.

I agree that what's happened is that a clear majority have swung the
decision firmly in favour of rc.d but that this does not mean a true
consensus has been reached.  However I think true consensus can only be
reached now by the minority at least proposing in detail, if not
actually offering a prototype implementation, of something that meets
both their own requirements, as well as those requirements met by the
current implementation.  After all the current implementation is already
clearly a compromise (though in the long run an arguable improvement)
from what at least some folks were no doubt hoping for.

> I, at least, was saying more like "monolithic rc is significantly
> easier for *human* boot script maintenance".

I thought that I and several others had shown in past debates on this
topic, in a hopefully rational and unbiased way, that in fact that is
not true.  While a monolithic startup script has its advantages in a
some scenarios, those situations are becoming increasingly rare and by
definition a monolithic startup script has stronger disadvantes in in
all other environments.

> Like anything involving subjective terms like "easier", that's at least
> partially a matter of opinion.  Yet in all the flap, I have seen at
> most one lone message even disagreeing with it.  One.  (Most of the
> responses on the other side of the fence have been more like "awc'mon,
> it's not so bad as all that".)

Perhaps I am combining memories from more than one forum and I'm not
sure if you're referring to any message I might have authored, but I'm
sure there's been more than just anecdotal evidence presented in at
least some related forum to show that in the long run a monolithic
startup script is in fact harder to maintain.

-- 
							Greg A. Woods

+1 416 218-0098      VE3TCP      <gwoods@acm.org>      <robohack!woods>
Planix, Inc. <woods@planix.com>; Secrets of the Weird <woods@weird.com>