Colin Alston wrote:
> Still, no one has managed to answer just *why* in a simple key-value
> configuration file with no option dependence has to refuse to start
> when it encounters an unknown option.
Well, there are two cases:
1) A completely unknown option: In this case, I agree that Clam should
abort after writing errors to stderr and syslog. A completely unknown
option indicates a serious problem; the configuration file could never
have been valid.
2) An option from an earlier version that has been removed. In this case,
Clam should warn to stderr and syslog, but still continue. In this way,
a previously-valid config file doesn't instantly become invalid.
I suspect the Clam developers do it the way they do to force users to
look at (and think about) their configuration files. This is a laudable
goal, but really interferes with usability and creates problems where there
need not be any. So I ask the developers (and I'd appreciate an official
response): Will you please consider:
Version N: Accept option Foo
Version N+1: Warn about obsolete option Foo
Version N+2: Reject option Foo and abort
Where "N" is a major version.
Regards,
David.
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