> --- > Often there are some variables in the init.d scripts whose values > control the behavior of the scripts, and which a system administrator > is likely to want to change. As the scripts themselves are frequently > conffiles, modifying them requires that the administrator merge in > their changes each time the package is upgraded and the conffile > changes. To ease the burden on the system administrator, such > configurable values should not be placed directly in the script. > Instead, they should be placed in a file in /etc/default, which > typically will have the same base name as the init.d script. > --- > That's another reason why so many packages use /etc/default/foobar for > disabling: the init scripts tend to be changed more often by the > maintainer, and it's nice if people can upgrade without having to > understand a large diff output.
Whoever conceived and introduced this idea of disabling services via /etc/default/$package deserves to be tarred and feathered. It is a horribly broken idea. Unfortunately quite a few people adopted this scheme. There is a clear and defined way to disable sysv init scripts from being started a bootup: Remove the S?? symlink from the runlevel and create a corresponding K?? symlink. Tools like sysv-rc-conf or guis like bum will easily manage that for you. update-rc.d will correctly handle this case and not restore the S?? symlinks. So there are no upgrade hassles! Why is using /etc/default/$package bad: - Because it makes your init script useless if it is disabled via /etc/default/. You aren't able any more to start it manually. - It makes the init system inconsistent and ambiguous - It breaks graphical frontends. Imagine a user, that tries to start/stop a service via a GUI, but nothing happens, because the init script just exits. Michael -- Why is it that all of the instruments seeking intelligent life in the universe are pointed away from Earth? _______________________________________________ initscripts-ng-devel mailing list [email protected] http://lists.alioth.debian.org/mailman/listinfo/initscripts-ng-devel
