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List:       jaxlug-list
Subject:    Re: [JAXLUG] Issues With Fedora 9
From:       Tim Holloway <timh () mousetech ! com>
Date:       2008-07-04 15:26:31
Message-ID: 1215185191.4821.104.camel () a64 ! camera ! mousetech ! com
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When I started working with Linux, I used to manually do everything. I
finally
learned better. The GUI tools aren't all that good at figuring out some
of the
ad-libs that can be done when manually editing config files.

Red Hat has a method to their madness, but they never bothered to
explain it.
I finally worked it out myself.

In order to ease some of the wear and tear that occurs as you upgrade
packages, the /etc/sysconfig directory exists.  Without it, the
variable 
information would generally end up in init scripts and get nuked every
time
you did an upgrade. By moving initscript features into variables
under /etc/sysconfig
not only do you avoid much of the bloodshed when doing system upgrades,
but in many cases the base init scripts can be shared - so that, for
example,
setting up 2 or 3 Apache servers on the same box using different ports
is easier.
One Script to Rule Them All, so to speak. Before virtualization became 
the order of the day, this was especially important.

Aside from the advantage of multiple server instances on the same box,
another, probably more important consideration is that Red Hat was
designed
for an environment where lots of boxes would be administered by a
relatively
small, relatively unskilled staff - it's safer when they're kept away
from the
executable part of the system and can't accidently damage an initscript.
Plus it
makes GUI tool design easier.

A fringe benefit to all that is that you can lock down actual base init
scripts themselves
more securely - even put them on a read-only medium. It's hard for
attackers to hack something that's physically immutable.

   Tim

On Fri, 2008-07-04 at 10:34 -0400, Kyle Gonzales wrote:
> Having worked with Ubuntu, Fedora, Gentoo, and RHEL in the past year,
> I can tell you there is no standard for where to put this information.
>  All define it differently, and all have their own set of scripts to
> parse and apply this information.  To my knowledge, the Linux
> Standards Base has yet to tackle this particular aspect of the Linux
> system.  The location of the information I believe is often determined
> by whether the distro uses BSD or SysV init scripts.
> 
> I can also tell you that RHL/RHEL/Fedora have put their networking
> config files in the same place for years.  All system config files go
> in /etc/sysconfig.  /etc/sysconfig/network is where you define a
> number of default system networking variables, such as the hostname,
> NIS domain, and default route.  /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ if
> where the network interfaces are defined (and the script to start/stop
> those interfaces).
> 
> So, while each distro does things somewhat differently, each has been
> pretty standard within its own family.
> 
> On 7/4/08, Paul Tiseo <ptiseo@metacodestudios.com> wrote:
> > From: jaxlug-list-bounces@jaxlug.org [mailto:jaxlug-list-bounces@jaxlug.org]
> >
> > Sent: Friday, July 04, 2008 9:58 AM
> >> GUI tools often overwrite manual changes done to the configuration files.
> >
> > Well, of course the GUI overwrites manual changes. That's obvious and not
> > what I meant. :)
> >
> >> What exactly do you mean here?
> >
> > I must not have been clear or maybe I didn't understand Art. Does Fedora
> > operate with the same settings in the same config files in the same
> > locations as other popular distros?
> >
> > ________________________________________
> > Paul Tiseo, CEO
> > Metacode Studios, Inc.
> > off: 904.994.7029
> > ptiseo@metacodestudios.com
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Jaxlug-list mailing list
> > Jaxlug-list@jaxlug.org
> > http://mailman.jaxlug.org/mailman/listinfo/jaxlug-list
> >
> 
> 


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