In message <x7smegdmix.fsf@bonnet.wsrcc.com>, "Wolfgang S. Rupprecht" writes:
>
>smb@research.att.com (Steve Bellovin) writes:
>> I've found that at boot time, ntpdate isn't running properly, because 
>> named isn't ready for it.  I've found that putting in a few seconds 
>> delay before it starts solves the problem.  Is there a simpler 
>> solution?  Am I missing something?
>
>        /etc/hosts ??? 
>
>I gave up trying to add delays to allow bind to start.  It was easier
>to just append the half-dozen addresses I needed for booting to
>/etc/hosts.  It is a bit of a maintenance hassle to keep it in sync
>with the addresses bind finds, but it beats a hung boot or improperly
>started daemons.

The particular problem case is us.pool.ntp.org, which selects among a 
large set of servers.  I suppose I could write a little daemon that 
queries for it (and other important servers) after things are booted, 
and changes the "static" entries in /etc/hosts...


		--Steve Bellovin, http://www.research.att.com/~smb