Subject: Re: HEADS UP: nsswitch about to go `live' in NetBSD-current
To: Andrew Gillham <gillhaa@ghost.whirlpool.com>
From: Luke Mewburn <lukem@goanna.cs.rmit.edu.au>
List: current-users
Date: 01/17/1999 10:15:18
Andrew Gillham writes:
> dustin sallings writes:
> > On Sat, 16 Jan 1999 Havard.Eidnes@runit.sintef.no wrote:
> > 
> > // If we're speaking of the default setting in the nsswitch.conf file
> > // we distribute, can we please change this so that DNS is also used?
> > // IMHO DNS should be used by default on the systems as distributed.
> > 
> > 	Does this mean you also want to have a list of DNS servers
> > configured by default?
> 
> I think enabling dns in /etc/nsswitch.conf should be a default, since
> that shouldn't make a lot of difference if /etc/resolv.conf doesn't
> exist.  IMHO it could be confusing to have to enable dns via resolv.conf
> *AND* via /etc/nsswitch.conf, for the new user.

If the system installation tools do it, fine. I only set `hosts: files dns'
in src/etc/nsswitch.conf as a concession, because the purist in me
believes that it shouldn't be necessary. However, it is there because
it will make life easier for people. (If a new user of Solaris wants DNS
they have to edit resolv.conf and nsswitch.conf; I don't think our new
users have any less clue than new solaris users...)


> On the subject of nsswitch.conf, gethostbyname seems to fail now that
> I have /etc/nsswitch.conf, for some programs.  One failing program is
> ftp, another is mountd.  Working would be others, including telnet.
> I can send along the output of ktrace if it would help.  I have only
> 'hosts: dns' in my /etc/nsswitch.conf.

I'd be very interested in any information about this. Of course, the
obvious questions I have to ask are:
	* did you make includes
	* did you rebuild libc from scratch?
	* have you tried make clean && make in ftp and seen what happens?

Luke.