"Chatty" config files in /etc

[Garance A Drosehn]

At 2:58 PM +0200 8/31/06, Helge Oldach wrote:
>Roman Kurakin:
>  > I suggest to make these files the way which would encourage peoples
>  > to keep example part, for example, under working part. Example will
>  > be still in the file, it will not bother admin, cause it do not
>  > cover essential part of  the file, and will simplify merging.
>
>So, with the benefit of easing merging for committers, we end up
>with two separate files for the end users (and sysadmins) - one
>"example file" and one "tru config file". IMHO this sounds like
>complicating matters.

I think you misunderstand the goal.  This is meant to benefit every
single user who *updates* FreeBSD.  That is a much larger audience
than committers.  This split has nothing to do with merging changes
into the FreeBSD source repository.

The merge we are talking about is the step where every FreeBSD user
runs 'mergemaster' (or something equivalent) to bring in important
changes to files under /etc, without losing all the important
localizations that every sysadmin has to do.  It effects every user
who ever does a 'cd /usr/src ; make installworld'.

-- 
Garance Alistair Drosehn     =               drosehn at rpi.edu
Senior Systems Programmer               or   gad at FreeBSD.org
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute;             Troy, NY;  USA