> It evades me why people in the System V world decided that each
> package should have its own startup/shutdown script in /etc.  Why does
> all that hair belong in /etc, instead of in the executables for the
> packages themselves?
> 
	Have you worked at a large UNIX site? There is a reason why LARGE
	sites like /etc/init.d, it's not just dumb luck. In a nutshell:

	1: pkg* allows clean installation and removal of packages without
	   having to scour a multigig filesystem tree looking for remnants
	   or worrying some init file has been missed causing lockup or
	   worse on reboot.
	
	2: /etc/init.d provide's ONE place where you have to look for
	   scripts that start/stop each subsystem. It doesn't require
	   careful examination of a HUGE rc.local file to try and find the
	   pieces you need to comment out or alter or manually type in to
	   start/stop a subsystem/package. Each script tells you what you
	   need to know to start/stop a subsystem.

	2 can be startup simulated by creating an /etc/init.d in using a for
	loop in rc.local, 1 however cannot.
	
	Software packages built for BSD tend to have detailed instructions on
	what you need to do once you untar the file. Even if they use and
	install script there is RARELY an uninstall script and the same process
	never works across software vendors. This means training people in
	multiple vendors ways, this costs major $$$ in large companys, $$$ that
	are better spent on CEO and board members golden parachutes...

	By contrast, on SVR4 you can cd to the distribution CD-ROM and do
	pkgadd -d .
	and will be presented with a list of packages you can install. You
	can also do a
	pkgadd -d . FOOCOwizpackage
	and have it whip through the install. Just as importantly you can
	do a pkgrm FOOCOwizpackage and have it cleanly deinstalled. It
	doesn't take much training to use pkg* in an environament where today's
	low paid System Admin was yesterday's downsized, rightsized and
	outsourced high paid COBOL programmer...

	For personal systems it's convieniant to have /etc/init.d and pkg*, for
	large sites it's a neccesity. That's why large sites tend to SVR4
	these days and why most commercial UNIX providers have gone that
	route either by aquisition, SCO/HP/Novell, or by choice, Sun.

	Let the religeous war continue!

		-Rob