On Wed, 2004-12-01 at 13:31 -0600, Jason L Tibbitts III wrote: > >>>>> "FA" == Florin Andrei <florin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes: > > FA> For example, add > FA> some variables, containing the port numbers for the various > FA> portmap/nfs components, in a file in /etc/sysconfig: > > /etc/sysconfig/nfs is checked. You can things like: > > RPCNFSDCOUNT > MOUNTD_PORT > STATD_PORT > STATD_OUTGOING_PORT > > You have to set the NLM ports in modprobe.conf or on the kernel > command line. D'oh! :-( Ok, so then here's my not-so-pet peeve: There are all kinds of clever and remarkable things that the rc.d system is performing, but they are useless if a sysadmin cannot figure them out without either reading up acres of large shell scripts in /etc or chancing upon a bit of documentation that has the relevant info (not that i've seen anything in the docs related to the issue i was describing). I already noticed that there are all kinds of arcane config bits in places such as /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth* that can be very handy, but there's no way to unearth them other than printing out all essential system scripts in /etc and reading them line by line. Honestly, i hate to do that. Not because i'm lazy, but because i'm busy. I assume i'm not the only one in this situation. If /etc/sysconfig/nfs is checked by a system script, then please by all means _create_ that file, add some generic content (put in all variables that _could_ be present in that file, but comment out those that are not typically used) and include it in a Fedora Core package. Same for ifcfg-eth* - now i know that ESSID is a valid variable and i know how to use it, but only after stumbling upon it by chance, when reading some system scripts in /etc. I would say, whenever a config file in /etc/sysconfig (or wherever) _might_ contain a variable, then it _should_ contain it. Comment it out if it's not used. Add an explanation above. Comments are good - like chicken soup for the sysadmin's brain. Look at /etc/syslog.conf - ain't that thing pretty? I was initially a Slackware user and migrated later to Red Hat and fought all those SysV-style versus BSD-style wars. I still think the SysV style is better, but i ended up being wary of the Fedora /etc directory, precisely because of the massive obfuscation i'm describing. Sure, you guys at Red Hat must know /etc by heart, but how about us poor mortals? Please, not everyone is doing 100% of their homework beforehand - indeed, it's impossible to do so in the real world. Many people learn the system on the fly. Give them a helping hand. Thanks! Now i'm going back to fight looming deadlines. Sorry for rambling, i still think y'all are cool. :-) -- Florin Andrei http://florin.myip.org/
