Subject: Re: BSD == NIH
To: None <current-users@netbsd.org>
From: Greg A. Woods <woods@most.weird.com>
List: current-users
Date: 03/19/1999 18:42:59
[ On Friday, March 19, 1999 at 04:53:36 (-0800), John Nemeth wrote: ]
> Subject: Re: BSD == NIH
>
>      You have to deal with files located in:
> 
> /etc
> /etc/init.d
> /etc/rc?.d
> /etc/default
> 
> You have to modify plain configuration files, scripts, and filenames.
> And, this is just standard SVR4.  Need I go on?

I really don't believe you're complaing about this.  I thought you were
trying to mis-represent the state of affairs on SysVr4.  I thought you
were complaining about the very few subsystems that still had what some
people might consider "config" files over in /usr/lib and places like
that.  To me having everything all in one small sub-hierarchy *IS*
having them all in one place!

>      With NetBSD, on the other hand, pretty much all the changes are
> confined to plain configuration files all located in /etc, with most
> of the changes in /etc/rc.conf.  Also, there are very few files
> located in /etc that aren't configuration files.

Nobody's arguing that NetBSD isn't on the right track here, at least I'm
not, it's just that there's still some distance to go.

It also seems that NetBSD is lagging behind the state of the art here
too, even within the community of so-called "*BSD"s.

>      Unfortunately, I have way too much on my plate at the moment, and
> so tend to only deal with things that affect me directly.

Oh, well -- status quo then....

>  Also, I'm
> still waiting for the patch I supplied in PR bin/6546 (dhclient vs.
> Shaw@Home) to be committed.  I spent many many hours pouring over
> RFC's, code, tcpdump logs, and testing to come up with that patch.
> The DHCP stuff has been updated several times since I filed that PR
> and there's no sign of the patch being done.

There's evidence that much more generic fixes are in the works,
especially in -current.

Note also that it would appear that for DHCP in particular you'd be much
better off submitting fixes to the ISC folks than to NetBSD -- they're
likely to get incorporated much quicker.

-- 
							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>