On Fri, 16 Mar 2007 20:50:41 +0100 Joe Hart <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
[snip] > You want vi? change /etc/prefereces/editor to symlink vi and then visudo '/etc/alternatives' > will run vi. > > I suppose one should use update-preferences to do that, but that's one 'update-alternatives' > of the "tools" that hide how things really work. Just like editing the > /etc/network/interfaces compared to running a tool to edit it for you. > > Again, one of the reasons I switched to Debian is so I didn't have all > these fancy little tools. Everything is stored in text files that can > be edited with one's favorite editor. That's the way it is, and that's > the way it should stay. I disagree with you about using update-alternatives. That is the 'official' way of manipulating the alt. system. The README in /etc/alt. sends you to the update-alt manpage, and update-alt does more than just manipulating that one symlink. For example (from the manpage): > It is often useful for a number of alternatives to be synchronised, so > that they are changed as a group; for example, when several versions of > the vi(1) editor are installed, the man page referenced by > /usr/share/man/man1/vi.1 should correspond to the executable referenced > by /usr/bin/vi. update-alternatives handles this by means of master > and slave links; when the master is changed, any associated slaves are > changed too. A master link and its associated slaves make up a link > group. > > Each link group is, at any given time, in one of two modes: automatic > or manual. When a group is in automatic mode, the alternatives system > will automatically decide, as packages are installed and removed, > whether and how to update the links. In manual mode, the alternatives > system will not change the links; it will leave all the decisions to > the system administrator. > > Link groups are in automatic mode when they are first introduced to the > system. If the system administrator makes changes to the system’s > automatic settings, this will be noticed the next time update-alterna‐ > tives is run on the changed link’s group, and the group will automati‐ > cally be switched to manual mode. Also: > Since the activities of update-alternatives are quite involved, some > specific terms will help to explain its operation. Celejar -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
