Re: RFC: Alternate patch to have true new-style rc.d scripts in ports (without touching localpkg)

> Date: Mon, 16 Aug 2004 13:40:10 -0400
> From: Christopher Nehren <apeiron_at_comcast.net>
> Sender: owner-freebsd-current_at_freebsd.org
> 
> --/04w6evG8XlLl3ft
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> 
> On Mon, Aug 16, 2004 at 11:56:53 EDT, Mike Makonnen scribbled these
> curious markings:
> > I have thought about this considerably, and I think the best solution
> > is to have ports rc.d scripts installed to /etc/rc.d. One of the problems
> 
> Please, no. This is in direct violation of hier(8), POLA, the concept
> of separating third-party packages from the base system, and it also
> pollutes the concept of a lean, clean, vendor-provided / file
> system. One of the things that I love about FreeBSD is that it doesn't
> make a mess of the base system like Linux does. If I wanted the mess
> that putting port scripts in /etc/rc.d would cause, I'd use Linux.
> 
> ... well, maybe not.
> 
> At the very least, I'd like the current way of doing things (Why does it need
> to be changed, anyway? The current way of doing things is quite close to
> perfect, IMHO.) to remain a viable option. And no, littering /etc/rc.d with
> symlinks is not the way to do it. If I wanted that, again, I'd go to Linux.
> 
> Well, I'm fresh out of paint.
> 
> If you'd like, you can take this message as a statement of how happy I
> am with FreeBSD :-).

As a LONG time BSD user (since at least BSD4.1, I don't see a violation of
POLA or of heir(7), although I expected that someone would claim
it. /usr/local/etc is a very recent addition and is barely mentioned in
heir(7) at all. The problem is that it defeats on of the purposes of
/etc. It was (to the best of my recollection) for systems specific
configuration files that might be needed when only / was mounted and in
single-user mode when / was read-only.

There are many local system mods that require configuration files and/or
scripts be available prior to mounting of any file system.

I do like a separation of local stuff, but it really, really should be
in the physical root partition. (And I oppose the use of symlinks, as
well. That's really ugly!)
-- 
R. Kevin Oberman, Network Engineer
Energy Sciences Network (ESnet)
Ernest O. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab)
E-mail: oberman_at_es.net			Phone: +1 510 486-8634