Date: Tue, 30 Jun 1998 17:02:30 -0700 From: Mike Smith <mike@smith.net.au> To: "Matthew D. Fuller" <fullermd@futuresouth.com> Cc: Mike Smith <mike@smith.net.au>, "Jordan K. Hubbard" <jkh@time.cdrom.com>, freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Adding a new user interface to FreeBSD administration Message-ID: <199807010002.RAA08758@dingo.cdrom.com> In-Reply-To: Your message of "Tue, 30 Jun 1998 18:11:53 CDT." <19980630181153.08867@futuresouth.com>
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> On Tue, Jun 30, 1998 at 02:46:18PM -0700, Mike Smith woke me up to tell me:
> > > On Mon, Jun 29, 1998 at 04:29:31PM -0700, Jordan K. Hubbard woke me up to tell me:
> > > >
> > > > linux(enabled) = YES
> > > > linux(doc) = { This variable controls whether linux emulation support
> > > > will be automatically loaded at startup. You can also do it manually
> > > > with the /usr/bin/linux command. }
> > > > linux(exec-command) = "linux > /dev/null 2>&1"
> > >
> > > OK, so what's wrong with a simple /etc/rc.conf script that looks
> > > something like:
> >
> > It doesn't scale.
> I don't see how.
You can't use the same information as a template for more than one
system.
> > Yes. And you could call it /etc/rc too.
> >
> > Wrong direction, sorry.
>
> Well, the way I describe redoing (bootup) procedure above would drop
> quietly into the present setup; just replace /etc/rc with that nice
> little 4-line script, and rc.conf with the above. It's a bit more
> self-explanatory than the present, anyway.
Like I said, if you want one big script, call it rc. If you don't fully
appreciate the separation between parametric and procedural information,
and the concept of procedure-as-parameter (ie. metaprocedures), it's a
bit hard to explain.
The basic goal is to separate the "do this" configuration from the "how
to do this" instructions. Further down the track, you abstract again
and all the system is left with is "how to work out what to do";
everything else is parametric from this point of view.
You're taking the opposite approach and slamming everything back
together. You can't effectively layer a single object when your
layering granularity is the object.
--
\\ Sometimes you're ahead, \\ Mike Smith
\\ sometimes you're behind. \\ mike@smith.net.au
\\ The race is long, and in the \\ msmith@freebsd.org
\\ end it's only with yourself. \\ msmith@cdrom.com
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