Date: Fri, 24 Apr 1998 09:32:59 +0200 From: Philippe Regnauld <regnauld@deepo.prosa.dk> To: allen campbell <allenc@verinet.com> Cc: config@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Config Databases Message-ID: <19980424093259.13767@deepo.prosa.dk> In-Reply-To: <199804240710.BAA16897@const.>; from allen campbell on Fri, Apr 24, 1998 at 01:10:08AM -0600 References: <2195.893365441@time.cdrom.com> <199804240710.BAA16897@const.>
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allen campbell writes:
>
> Most configuration files support some form of comment. Why not
> use this facility to report inconsistencies?
>
> The result of writing a bogus /etc/passwd might look like;
[...]
> This could make configfs downright helpful. The ability of configfs
> to annotate configuration files could be used pro-actively...
Hmm, I'm not (for what it's worth) really satisfied with either approach.
So far:
Jordan suggests that _nothing_ be returned when an error is encountered.
-> silently drop the modification:
problem: how is the user supposed to know he made a mistake ? You can't
rely on the person to manually check after every mod.
Allen suggests annotating the "file" (this is configfs) with
the related errors. That means once again that the user should
check manually.
problem: a bit better, but the user still has to go and look
In both cases, there is no direct feedback of user failure. Either
I missed an episode, or that's a quite unusual way to do things
-- and unlike anything else we have:
Case 1: vi /etc/group && insert garbage -> something breaks, the user
might/will notice -> in any case, he can track down and look in
/etc/group and _see_ the mistakes
Case 2: vipw && insert garbage -> feedback on what's wrong right away
In the first suggestion (silently bouncing) means there's not even
_trace_ of the mods, right ? Hmmm..
--
-[ Philippe Regnauld / sysadmin / regnauld@deepo.prosa.dk / +55.4N +11.3E ]-
«Pluto placed his bad dog at the entrance of Hades to keep the dead
IN and the living OUT! The archetypical corporate firewall?»
- S. Kelly Bootle
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