Re: [RFC] userconf(4) modification

[Valery Ushakov <uwe%stderr.spb.ru@localhost>]

On Thu, Nov 02, 2023 at 16:29:42 +0100, tlaronde%kergis.com@localhost wrote:

> You will find attached the man page in order to be able to comment
> about the proposed new syntax---supplementary syntax: it does not
> replace the "legacy" one.

The man page is super-confusing.  Someone who needs to use userconf to
get their system to boot needs a clear reference, but the proposed
version tries to be overly formal and ends up a bit opaque.

I also don't understand why it is necessary to call the old syntax -
"legacy".  From the man page my impression is that the command can be
either

    command dev

or

    command property = value

both are in a sense a kind of device selector, why do you have to
declare one of them "legacy"?  The user probably doesn't care much
either way, they need to get the kernel booting and are not interested
in the lore.

Why the thing after = is called "expression"?  That position only
accepts two kinds of literals, one of which is a shorthand for the
other (but I had to re-read that paragraph several times and I'm still
not quite sure it actually clearly says that).

-uwe