On 2026-01-14 23:00, Jakob Bohm via Cygwin wrote:
On 14/01/2026 18:21, Bruce Jerrick via Cygwin wrote:
On 1/13/26 22:09, matthew patton wrote:
or is it a case someone broke/removed the symlink from /etc/rc to /etc/rc.d/
rc? Or more correctly /etc/rc -> /etc/init.d/rc.Removed, I believe, not
broke. See below re executables in /etc .
/etc/rc dates back to SunOS v4 at least. Similarly /etc/init and /sbin/init.
Long before any SunOS or BSD. It was probably in Version 6 Unix .
Way back then (as they say), /etc contained "system" executables, as well as
config files.
The executables were eventually moved to /sbin . I don't remember if that
happened in BSD or SunOS. It was /sbin, then, not /usr/sbin, because they had
to be available before /usr was mounted (SunOS commonly got a read-only /usr
via NFS).
/etc/rc.d (and children like /etc/rc[0-6].d) is more of a "expression of
state" directory.
Agreed, but only in regard to /etc/rc.d/rc[0-6].d .
(A better name for /etc/rc.d (or /etc/init.d) would be /etc/init, since a ".d"
suffix usually implies optional contents.)
.d indicates a Directory variant of the single file designated without the .d .
Forexample, /etc/crontab.d is a directory of additional crontab files beyond
the commonglobal entries in /etc/crontab.
Nothing in a sane /etc directory should represent state,as the directory
is supposed to be the core system-wide system config, not writableexcept
by admin action. In particular, /etc should not be writable by automated
thingssuch as boot executables and daemons (that belongs in /run and
/var). On a real system rather than a compatibility layer like Cygwin,
/etc will be part of the a small read-only root mount that gets remounted
r/w only during relevant sysadmin tasks such as installing and removing
packages.
/etc/default/ is supposed to be a directory of per package config overrides,
such aschoosing additional invocation options for daemons started by
scripts in /etc/init.d/ .
/etc/default/etc/inittab is clearly out of place.
Nothing in Cygwin packages should install anything under /etc/default/.
Not so in /etc/defaults/etc/inittab -- those subdirs are all "rc.d", not
init.d . See my comments above re 'rc' being a special case.
Under Cygwin /etc/defaults/ - note plural - contain originals of package system
config files to be installed under /etc/..., /usr/share/.../, or
/var/{games,lib}/.../ by package postinstall scripts if not already present, and
removed on package upgrades by preremove scripts if not modified by the admin
since install, determined by comparison with the original under /etc/defaults/,
otherwise the locally modified config file is retained.
This includes the user home directory setup files:
$ la /etc/defaults/etc/skel/
.bash_profile .bashrc .inputrc .mkshrc .profile
Some entries under /etc/ are symlinks:
$ find /etc/ -maxdepth 1 -type l | xargs -r ls -glo
lrwxrwxrwx 1 12 Aug 29 2019 /etc/aliases -> mail/aliases
lrwxrwxrwx 1 13 Nov 2 2020 /etc/gaminrc -> gamin/gaminrc
lrwxrwxrwx 1 53 Sep 1 2015 /etc/hosts ->
../proc/cygdrive/c/Windows/System32/drivers/etc/hosts
lrwxrwxrwx 1 37 Jan 12 15:35 /etc/leap-seconds.list ->
/usr/share/zoneinfo/leap-seconds.list
lrwxrwxrwx 1 26 May 14 2013 /etc/machine-id -> ../var/lib/dbus/machine-id
lrwxrwxrwx 1 21 Apr 9 2024 /etc/mime.types -> /usr/share/mime/types
lrwxrwxrwx 1 12 Sep 1 2015 /etc/mtab -> /proc/mounts
lrwxrwxrwx 1 56 Sep 1 2015 /etc/networks ->
../proc/cygdrive/c/Windows/System32/drivers/etc/networks
lrwxrwxrwx 1 56 Sep 1 2015 /etc/protocols ->
../proc/cygdrive/c/Windows/System32/drivers/etc/protocol
lrwxrwxrwx 1 56 Sep 1 2015 /etc/services ->
../proc/cygdrive/c/Windows/System32/drivers/etc/services
--
Take care. Thanks, Brian Inglis Calgary, Alberta, Canada
La perfection est atteinte Perfection is achieved
non pas lorsqu'il n'y a plus rien à ajouter not when there is no more to add
mais lorsqu'il n'y a plus rien à retrancher but when there is no more to cut
-- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
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