On Mon, 26 Apr 1999, Todd Vierling wrote:

# : With several anonymous run levels then init only needs to track the
# : current state, and all the scripts invoked by /etc/inittab "do the right
# : thing" and hopefully at the right time, including the controlling all
# : the legal state transitions.  Any fixed definition of states and state
# : transitions will either never be flexible enough for everyone, or will
# : be far too complex and bloated to be usable.
# 
# And FWIW, "single user mode" is more or less defined to be "/ mounted ro,
# all other fs's unmounted", which is contrary to the original request of
# leaving filesystems mounted when descending to single user mode.

You're not seriously advocating that a descent to single-user mode
go thru the motions of unmounting all filesystems and un-configuring
the CCDs, are you?!?

That goes against the (BSD) grain in a major way.  So do lamely numbered
run levels (Solaris *still* asks you which runlevel you want to hit
when you exit single-user mode!  Please let's not do this!)

One _could_ write a setup to handle things such as:

	rl [ options ... (to be defined) ] {+-}state-or-stage

which could be made to handle dependencies, i.e.

# rl +component-a
* rl: component-a depends on: component-b component-c
** rl: component-b depends on component-d
*** rl: <startup message for component-d>
** rl: <startup message for component-b>
** rl: <startup message for component-c>
* rl: <statrtup message for component-a>
# rl -component-a
* rl: component-a requires: component-b component-c
** rl: <shutting down component-b>
** rl: component-b requires component-d
*** rl: <shutdown component-d>
** rl: <shutting down component-c>
* rl: <shutdown component-a>
#

Merely a thought.  component-* could be a full state such as "multi-user-net"
or it could be a component such as "nfs".

Probably too complex and bloated, though.  I'd still prefer it to the
atrocity that is "runlevels" under missed-em 5.

				--*greywolf;
--
When will people learn how to think!??  I long for the day to come when
software is purchased on the basis of technical merit and usefulness and not
on the basis of marketing bullsh*t.  And when is intelligence going to become
a prerequisite for survival?