Add timecounter option to rc.conf

[Poul-Henning Kamp]

In message <xzpu1dbs8b5.fsf at flood.ping.uio.no>, Dag-Erling Smorgrav writes:
>"Poul-Henning Kamp" <phk at phk.freebsd.dk> writes:
>> In message <xzp1y0fmpb5.fsf at flood.ping.uio.no>, Dag-Erling Smorgrav writes:
>> > The attached patch adds a timecounter option to rc.conf and an rc.d
>> > script to handle it.
>> What's wrong with using /etc/sysctl.conf for this ?
>
>Partly because I believe that the choice of timecounter hardware is
>sufficiently important to the performance and correct operation of the
>system to warrant its own rc.conf knob, and partly because I hate the
>"configuration diaspora" of which sysctl.conf is a prime example.

I on the other hand think that by now /etc/rc.conf has so many knobs
and handles that it is practically impossible to figure out how to
do anything without resorting to "less /etc/rc.*" to figure it out :-(

>(another such example is ntp.conf - the needs of most ntpd users can
>be met with an ntp.conf generated automatically from information which
>is already present in rc.conf)

The new NTP4 automatic configuration stuff is promising in this respect,
with a little luck people will need to configure nothing at all.


-- 
Poul-Henning Kamp       | UNIX since Zilog Zeus 3.20
phk at FreeBSD.ORG         | TCP/IP since RFC 956
FreeBSD committer       | BSD since 4.3-tahoe    
Never attribute to malice what can adequately be explained by incompetence.