Date: Fri, 16 Oct 1998 12:04:54 -0500 (CDT) From: Chad Dubuque <freebsdstable@rrnet.com> To: freebsd-stable@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: syslogd and syslog.conf Message-ID: <199810161704.MAA25067@rrnet.com> In-Reply-To: <m0zUBki-0008G5C@rip.psg.com> from "Randy Bush" at Oct 16, 98 08:25:16 am
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Randy Bush wrote: > > there are potentially non-system routines that will break with this "fix". > > this is the point that worries me. a change is being proposed in a data > file, and it is being assumed that syslogd(8) is the only program which > reads that file. as syslog.conf(5) has been documented publicly, i would be > more cautious about changing the definition, for mere cosmetic not emergency > reasons, without widely published warning well in advance. Y'know, I'm all for documenting a change, but I think your worries are a little unnecessary. For one, the only change being proposed is that spaces will be allowed instead of just tabs. That's it. Heck, I think it makes a lot of sense. BSDI's syslogd understands tabs&/or spaces as whitespace, why shouldn't FreeBSD's? It's not going to add a lot of code, and IT WILL NOT BREAK ANYTHING. However, if you *then* put spaces in your syslog.conf, it may break something (I don't know what) that also reads it. If so, the administrator should realize that (s)he just changed his/her syslog.conf, and change the faulty parser. (Switch to perl, use "\s+".) In short, I believe that syslogd only understanding spaces is a BUG, and that any program that depends on WHITESPACE being only TABS is BROKEN. Fix syslogd, add a paragraph to the man page, put a warning in syslog.conf, and let's get on to fixing other software and writing other drivers. -- Chad Dubuque cdubuque@rrnet.com Fargo, N.D. (USA) Red River Net - Internet Communications http://www.rrnet.com/ To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-stable" in the body of the message
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