In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
Ian Jackson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> 6. The database format used to cache answers should be editable by
> humans.
Directly? I'm not sure what format would be both fast and
human-editable. What if there were a tool to export to text and
reimport?
I'd also very much like the ability to have a script preload the
database. For example, virtually every machine here, servers and
workstations alike, has the same settings for mail handling, DNS
servers, NTP servers, &c. I'd like to, as part of the setup for a new
machine, preload all those settings so that they are ready when the
packages get installed.
Preloading would be easy if it were just a matter of
#!/bin/sh
whatever-the-tool-is-called --install-preloads <<EOF
xntp3/xntp-servers = ntp1.crosslink.net ntp2.crosslink.net \
ntp3.crosslink.net
base/dns-servers = 206.246.64.1 207.199.128.1
EOF
Options for handilng the input could be (a) enter into the database if
not already present, (b) enter into the database overwriting existing
settings, (c) enter into the database if not present and halt if
already present with a different value, (d) clear database and load
these entries.
Behavior (d) would be the complement of the "export all entries to
text" option, which together make the db human-editable.
Behavior (b) would be most useful if the postinst scripts could be
rerun at the same time if any settings were changed.
This would be *very very* helpful for anyone wanting to standardize a
non-trivial number of machines using Debian. Cost of ownership has
been a hot topic among the people who worry about what to put on their
company's desktops and configuration management is a big part of that.
--
Shields, CrossLink.
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