Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2003 12:30:00 +0100 From: Thomas Quinot <thomas@freebsd.org> To: Garrett Wollman <wollman@lcs.mit.edu> Cc: arch@FreeBSD.org Subject: Re: syslog.conf syntax change (multiple program/host specifications) Message-ID: <20030213113000.GD55974@melusine.cuivre.fr.eu.org> In-Reply-To: <200302122018.h1CKIxjT026982@khavrinen.lcs.mit.edu> References: <20030210114930.GB90800@melusine.cuivre.fr.eu.org> <200302112310.h1BNAUBS019097@khavrinen.lcs.mit.edu> <20030212182852.GA94317@melusine.cuivre.fr.eu.org> <200302122018.h1CKIxjT026982@khavrinen.lcs.mit.edu>
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
Le 2003-02-12, Garrett Wollman écrivait :
> The benefit of such changes is that, when new features are necessary
> (e.g., MAC labels for servers started by inetd), it is not necessary
> to create yet another kluge to shoehorn the new feature into the old,
> inflexible syntax.
Indeed, there is a balance to be found between integration of new
features and compatibility with legacy syntax. The current state of
syslog.conf IMO demonstrates that sometimes this balance can be found
by evolution of the existing format, and not necessarily by a complete
change of syntax.
> AIX actually had sort-of-the-right-idea, in that most of the
> AIX-specific configuration files are lexically identical, vary very
> little in syntax, and are easily extensible. Unfortunately, there is
I am more than willing to buy this argument for vendor-specific
configuration files, but my point concerns files that have had similar
layouts on many variants of *nix for years.
> not putting forward XML because I like it; I am however noting that
> none of the comparably-capable alternatives have anything like the
> broad support that XML does.
Sure, and as several suggested XML might be an interesting option as an
intermediate representation of configuration information in the context
of automated generation of config files.
Thomas.
--
Thomas.Quinot@Cuivre.FR.EU.ORG
To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org
with "unsubscribe freebsd-arch" in the body of the message
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?20030213113000.GD55974>