From owner-freebsd-arch@FreeBSD.ORG Wed Aug 31 06:07:18 2011 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-arch@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 6E0DC1065672 for ; Wed, 31 Aug 2011 06:07:18 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from peterjeremy@acm.org) Received: from mail12.syd.optusnet.com.au (mail12.syd.optusnet.com.au [211.29.132.193]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id EBEFD8FC16 for ; Wed, 31 Aug 2011 06:07:17 +0000 (UTC) Received: from server.vk2pj.dyndns.org (c220-239-116-103.belrs4.nsw.optusnet.com.au [220.239.116.103]) by mail12.syd.optusnet.com.au (8.13.1/8.13.1) with ESMTP id p7V67EMW026353 (version=TLSv1/SSLv3 cipher=DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA bits=256 verify=NO) for ; Wed, 31 Aug 2011 16:07:15 +1000 X-Bogosity: Ham, spamicity=0.000000 Received: from server.vk2pj.dyndns.org (localhost.vk2pj.dyndns.org [127.0.0.1]) by server.vk2pj.dyndns.org (8.14.4/8.14.4) with ESMTP id p7V67Eoj040495 for ; Wed, 31 Aug 2011 16:07:14 +1000 (EST) (envelope-from peter@server.vk2pj.dyndns.org) Received: (from peter@localhost) by server.vk2pj.dyndns.org (8.14.4/8.14.4/Submit) id p7V67EpN040494 for freebsd-arch@freebsd.org; Wed, 31 Aug 2011 16:07:14 +1000 (EST) (envelope-from peter) Date: Wed, 31 Aug 2011 16:07:13 +1000 From: Peter Jeremy To: freebsd-arch@freebsd.org Message-ID: <20110831060713.GB37259@server.vk2pj.dyndns.org> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/signed; micalg=pgp-sha1; protocol="application/pgp-signature"; boundary="U+BazGySraz5kW0T" Content-Disposition: inline X-PGP-Key: http://members.optusnet.com.au/peterjeremy/pubkey.asc User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.21 (2010-09-15) Subject: Regularly updated files in /etc X-BeenThere: freebsd-arch@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: Discussion related to FreeBSD architecture List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 31 Aug 2011 06:07:18 -0000 --U+BazGySraz5kW0T Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable FreeBSD has gradually moved "dynamic" files (those that are automously updated during normal system operation) out of /etc. As far as I can see, there are only 3 such files left: 1) /etc/dumpdates This is (optionally) updated by dump(8). 2) /etc/opiekeys This file is opened read-write on every login unless OPIE is disabled and is updated when any OPIE-enabled user logs in. 3) /etc/resolv.conf This is typically updated during DHCP or PPP negotiation. Is there a good reason why these files can't be moved to (eg) /var/db? The benefit is that root can more easily be mounted RO if desired. I don't see any real downsides for the first two: - Moving dumpdates out of root just means a different FS would need te be writable during dumps. - opiekeys is only useful in multiuser mode (you can't use OPIE in single-user mode because root isn't mounted RW) so there's no need for it to be on root. resolv.conf is more problematic: - Potentially, it could be needed to NFS mount /var, though this seems unlikely in practice. - Since there are no standard APIs for updating resolv.conf, there are likely to be lots of home-grown scripts that know where it is. Would it be worthwhile moving these files? --=20 Peter Jeremy --U+BazGySraz5kW0T Content-Type: application/pgp-signature -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v2.0.18 (FreeBSD) iEYEARECAAYFAk5dz5EACgkQ/opHv/APuIeHlACfex2Bnm8kiGuWTXgzkcLzkXfS JS4AnjQPrmC7N0FyjuzHdQQW8UfPpZED =GQWv -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- --U+BazGySraz5kW0T--