Re: rc & runsystem

[Alfred M. Szmidt]

   It has always been normal for packages to clobber config files in
   make install.

Not in my experience, it has been normal to just not install
configuration files at all and let the user do it manually.

I would actually file a bug report for _anything_ that clobbers
configuration files.  Infact, I'll file one for for the GNU coding
standards, since it is just wrong to screw them up.

   That's why users don't do make install, but use package managers.

I'm a user, `make install' is my package manager in this case.  And as
such `make install' should do "the Right Thing(TM)".  And that is to
not clobber files that will get edited during the normal course of
using a system (/libexec/rc is one such file, and _all_ files in
$(sysconfdir)).

   These are not really config files in the normal sense that users
   generally edit them.

The first part I agree with (that runsystem and rc aren't really
"config" files), but not with the second.  /libexec/rc is infact
normally edited by users, if I don't want inetd running then I edit
/libexec/rc.  There is no other way to disable inetd's starting.  The
same goes for a number of other things in /libexec/rc, like starting
sshd on boot or whatever.  Having it clobbered each time you install
the Hurd is just wrong.

I'm really having a hard time seeing how you can disagree with
this. :-)

Cheers.