From owner-freebsd-doc Wed Nov 29 12: 2:41 2000 Delivered-To: freebsd-doc@freebsd.org Received: from cfcl.com (cpe-024-221-169-054.ca.sprintbbd.net [24.221.169.54]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 70B1737B401 for ; Wed, 29 Nov 2000 12:02:38 -0800 (PST) Received: from [192.168.168.205] (cerberus [192.168.168.205]) by cfcl.com (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id MAA19672 for ; Wed, 29 Nov 2000 12:02:12 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from rdm@cfcl.com) Mime-Version: 1.0 Message-Id: In-Reply-To: <20001129183258.A38444@canyon.nothing-going-on.org> References: <20001129144252.A23325@canyon.nothing-going-on.org> <20001129183258.A38444@canyon.nothing-going-on.org> Date: Wed, 29 Nov 2000 12:02:47 -0800 To: freebsd-doc@freebsd.org From: Rich Morin Subject: documenting nonexistent files Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed" Sender: owner-freebsd-doc@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk X-Loop: FreeBSD.org One of the interesting points that arose in the make.conf(5) PR is the fact that /etc/make.conf (like many other files) doesn't exist by default and therefore can't be found with ls, let alone examined for comments. In some cases, this could be resolved by creating placeholder files that only have comments. Unfortunately: * The placeholder file would need to be read by the FreeBSD machinery, causing (a small amount of) wasted effort. * Some nonexistent files (e.g., log files) cause things to happen when they are created. * Adding files would add clutter to system directories. Nonetheless, it would be nice if there were an easy way to find out about such files. Ideally, the man pages for the programs that use them would mention them in their FILES sections and a man page would exist for each one. Meanwhile, a simple list of these files, with short descriptions, would be a useful help. As I have my own (Meta-related) reasons for assembling such a list, I am willing to collect information that anyone wants to send me about this sort of file. At some point, I might even be brave enough to create a man page! Meanwhile, I can put the list up for web access or whatever... -r Here is a starting set of names, to give you the general idea: File Client Note ==== ====== ==== /etc/ ccd.conf /etc/rc daily.local /etc/periodic/daily/999.local (obs.) exports /etc/rc.network ipsec.local /etc/rc.network mail/ sendmail.cf /etc/rc make.conf /usr/share/mk/sys.mk make.conf.local /usr/share/mk/sys.mk (error) monthly.local /etc/periodic/monthly/999.local (obs.) pccard.conf /etc/defaults/pccard.conf ptmp /etc/rc (auto) rc.conf.local /etc/defaults/rc.conf rc.diskless1 /etc/rc rc.local /etc/rc start_if.* /etc/rc.network (auto) sysctl.conf /etc/rc.sysctl weekly.local /etc/periodic/weekly/999.local (obs.) /var/ account/ acct /etc/rc (auto) db/ mounttab /etc/rc.shutdown run/ clean_var /etc/rc rc.suspend_pid /etc/rc.suspend (auto) -- -- Rich Morin: rdm@cfcl.com, +1 650-873-7841, http://www.cfcl.com/rdm Prime Time Freeware: info@ptf.com, +1 408-433-9662, http://www.ptf.com MacPerl: http://www.macperl.com, http://www.ptf.com/ptf/products/MPPE MkLinux: http://www.mklinux.org, http://www.ptf.com/ptf/products/MKLP To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-doc" in the body of the message