[Bug 223276] rc.subr man page not clear

bugzilla-noreply at freebsd.org bugzilla-noreply at freebsd.org
Fri Oct 27 10:39:03 UTC 2017


https://bugs.freebsd.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=223276

            Bug ID: 223276
           Summary: rc.subr man page not clear
           Product: Base System
           Version: 11.1-RELEASE
          Hardware: Any
                OS: Any
            Status: New
          Severity: Affects Some People
          Priority: ---
         Component: conf
          Assignee: freebsd-bugs at FreeBSD.org
          Reporter: bergerkos at yahoo.co.uk

I had problems reading the rc.subr man page concerning $argument_precmd.

This variable has to do with the (occasional) need to run some EXTERNAL
commands when starting a daemon. It will be such commands as do NOT get
inserted in any of the variables provided through rc.conf nor rc.subr.

The manual just says:
Shell commands to run just before running argument_cmd or the default method
for argument.    

Now it is not immediately clear from the description that the variable has to
do with ADDITIONAL commands, such as are NOT part of the rc.subr framework. 

Ah, but here one may argue: why, $argument_precmd DOES make part of rc.subr
framework, does it not?

Right, but it deals with commands that go BEYOND anything configurable via
rc.conf or rc.subr variables. This, in my opinion, falls into the category of
EXTERNAL commands and as such deserves a more explicit mentioning in the
manual. For example:
argument_precmd
ADDITIONAL shell commands to run just before running $argument_cmd or the
default method for $argument, ones that cannot be placed into other rc.conf or
rc.subr variables. 

I mean, without being a bit more explicit about this, the rc.subr seems to be
like a close circle that includes... what it includes. And what is it? Well,
it's rc.subr, don't you know.

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