From owner-freebsd-stable@FreeBSD.ORG Sun Mar 23 16:40:50 2008 Return-Path: Delivered-To: stable@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id DCCED106566B for ; Sun, 23 Mar 2008 16:40:50 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from fjwcash@gmail.com) Received: from py-out-1112.google.com (py-out-1112.google.com [64.233.166.181]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 89AD68FC19 for ; Sun, 23 Mar 2008 16:40:50 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from fjwcash@gmail.com) Received: by py-out-1112.google.com with SMTP id u52so3448014pyb.10 for ; Sun, 23 Mar 2008 09:40:49 -0700 (PDT) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=beta; h=domainkey-signature:received:received:message-id:date:from:to:subject:in-reply-to:mime-version:content-type:content-transfer-encoding:content-disposition:references; bh=bFar40gh8Yeu1i/0UKL2Mt8E9ht/Z0iEnRyRgpxfKC8=; b=H6dH2w14GXwVREyPUlLOLzi0nLEY6Ihv6W8CRgkCoUpAcm/S8AnQ9J3MtMwC0g+mRpqKcGz+5Om/euFrdog5v4jlxNx+ERgstAeGS76ufVzY5Y8cQ3mX/DHm6/NHmDcLTLf/Jh6w9dtCB8JGINVO625IpFqfDh71Hd95RvynvOk= DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; c=nofws; d=gmail.com; s=beta; h=message-id:date:from:to:subject:in-reply-to:mime-version:content-type:content-transfer-encoding:content-disposition:references; b=cK85UOgD4UmyZPrG99j+0fuNXIeJJ87y3k+h4ZJ9PY7hcbhS7KF2EKRDpU2Cae3VbPenap0UueB2vqahnmr79YFHiu//k5QBE+2aKQQWub6XlJHKbNHQImHzF5+qY07DR+2DNnIeZG7uTt01SbSANBPrBlTPT5LaIua7vO7ix9g= Received: by 10.115.88.1 with SMTP id q1mr9622167wal.98.1206290449373; Sun, 23 Mar 2008 09:40:49 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.114.155.19 with HTTP; Sun, 23 Mar 2008 09:40:49 -0700 (PDT) Message-ID: Date: Sun, 23 Mar 2008 09:40:49 -0700 From: "Freddie Cash" To: stable@freebsd.org In-Reply-To: <200803230420.m2N4Kl6O078184@hergotha.csail.mit.edu> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline References: <868x0ezh9u.fsf@zid.claresco.hr> <200803192028.m2JKSZen098816@lurza.secnetix.de> <20080323000707.GA33311@fupp.net> <200803230420.m2N4Kl6O078184@hergotha.csail.mit.edu> Cc: Subject: Re: Upgrading to 7.0 - stupid requirements X-BeenThere: freebsd-stable@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: Production branch of FreeBSD source code List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sun, 23 Mar 2008 16:40:51 -0000 On Sat, Mar 22, 2008 at 9:20 PM, Garrett Wollman wrote: > In article , > > Freddie Cash writes: > >Oh, gods, please, no! That is one of the things I absolutely hate > >about Debian (and its derivatives). There are some packages on Debian > >where they use separate text files for each configuration option > >(ProFTPd, for examples). It is a huge mess of directories and files > >that makes it a *royal* PITA to edit at the CLI. > > > >Yes, a scheme like that is better for GUI tools, but it really makes > >things more difficult for non-GUI users/uses (like headless servers > >managed via SSH). > > Try managing a few hundred mostly-but-not-entirely-identical machines > and you really begin to appreciate the value of this approach. It is > orders of magnitude easier to drop one file into the central config > repository that does *one thing* than it is to manage a dozen > not-quite-identical copies of a monolithic configuration file, keeping > in sync the parts that are supposed to be in sync, and keeping the > parts that are supposed to be different, different. > > If FreeBSD were able to do this, it might have a bit more traction at > my place of employment. We do, using a "include file" setup. A main, monolothic config file for everything that is common between all systems, and then include a separate file that is specific to that machine. We based this on the /etc/rc.conf vs /etc/rc.conf.local setup. Works quite nicely across our 100+ servers. No need to break things down to the "multiple directories full of symlinks and itty-bitty files" setup, though. -- Freddie Cash fjwcash@gmail.com