Date: Thu, 02 Oct 1997 16:20:56 +1000 From: Stephen McKay <syssgm@dtir.qld.gov.au> To: Bill Pechter <pechter@lakewood.com> Cc: freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org, syssgm@dtir.qld.gov.au Subject: Re: Sysctl variables Message-ID: <199710020620.QAA20756@ogre.dtir.qld.gov.au> In-Reply-To: <199710020359.XAA00539@i4got.lakewood.com> from Bill Pechter at "Thu, 02 Oct 1997 03:59:37 %2B0000" References: <199710020359.XAA00539@i4got.lakewood.com>
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On Thursday, 2nd October 1997, Bill Pechter wrote: >I'm copying this to -chat because I'm wondering if there's any user interest >in this except just me... > >I'm back working on the SysV init again. I know it's been a long layoff since >a number of you sent code to me to work on. I've now got a dedicated test >box and will be working hard on finishing the work that was started by >a number of folks. > >Any chance of getting two varibles in the "official" FreeBSD sysctl MIB base.. > >I was thinking of kern.run_level and kern.last_run_level. >I'd like to avoid homebrew kernel patches to do this (I don't think I want >to have to continually update the init code after each cvsup upgrade.) > >If they were standard in the kernel and blank, I think it would allow the >SYSV init to be added as a package. This would make utmp changes >unnecessary and be kind of slick. We'd be able to make both the BSD and >SysV users happy. (I'm going to look at the userland command differences >after this... including the ps, ls differences. I still haven't given up >on the idea of supporting dual universes and getting tools up to support >Unixware and SCO commercial packages.) > >This is kind of like the Pyramid OS/x System -- they shipped with both >the SysV and BSD init programs and a script that will enable either one >and save the old rc scripts and init files in the event of a reinstall of >the other init. My first reaction to this is "OH MY GOD, NO!!!". Look in the mail archives for the run_level/run_state wars. I think it's the only time I've beaten Terry into submission. ;-) To be clear: I am very glad we have no SysV style run levels. I think they are a technically inferior solution. On the other hand, there's no reason why the occasional superior item can't be imported. Digital Unix has a ps command that supports both syntax styles. I can use "ps -ef" or "ps axl" any time I like. This stuff I'll help with. Similarly, both BSD and SysV printing subsystems suck. If you have a better one, tell us all about it. But OS/x?! I only talk about that to emphasise Great Failures! The Pyramid dual universe stuff was a pain in the arse. No, a Right Royal Pain in the Arse. All those variant symlinks and stuff just made things pretty much impossible to get right. You couldn't stay in one universe and do it all; you had to pop from one to the other to get a useful set of features working. We had our Pyramids crushed a couple weeks ago. Woo Hoo! So, please, no dual universes. Stephen.
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