Scott Reynolds writes:
> On Fri, 11 Apr 1997, Gordon W. Ross wrote:
> 
> > So...  What ever happened to the calls for just one rc.conf file?
> > (Or a small number of such conf files.)  Was it shot down?
> 
> This is one of that `small number of such conf files' that you're
> referring to.  They ifconfig.* files flexible enough to handle the wide
> variety of demands that a single rc.conf couldn't possibly handle with any
> grace or style (e.g. an arbitrary number of interface aliases, or multiple
> protocol families).

Just to clarify for those watching: /etc/rc.conf can be used for
configuring interfaces (ref: $interface_XXX for the interface named
XXX) if you have a simple config. However, if you need the power of
multiple ifconfig instructions per interface then you use
/etc/ifconfig.XXX

Note that the previous /etc/hostname.XXX files were only as powerful
(i.e, not very :) as $interface_XXX; the ability of multiple commands
was only added when support for /etc/ifconfig.XXX was added.

I intend to ``scope out'' if people would also like the ability to set
the hostname, domainname, and default router in /etc/rc.conf as well,
as an alternative (not replacement) for /etc/{myname,defaultdomain,
mygate}. See more on tech-userlevel.

So, to answer Gordon's original question: Yes, you can have rc.conf as
a replacement for a lot of the files in /etc if you don't have
esorteric needs. To be honest, support for $ifaliases_XXX could be
added too :)