System Configuration

[DCT Jared Smith]

Astute observations.

And I think that you've named the direction such efforts
would come from: A "tool which modifies settings," that could
offer this sort of functionality (a huge library of current configs
which would need to be ported). If we built this sort of tool,
and gave it an open queue for maintainers to add their configs,
then it would not need to be marketed so hard: it makes sense.

I can see that folks would start using it because it made their config 
work easier. The first users would be people who by the nature
of their work are installing numerous Linux systems, using multiple
distros, according to (their client's?) varying preferences.

> The biggest problem is going to be writing the code to translate
> the old configuration files into the new format.  We'll have to
> ship a whole shitload of translation programs so people can get
> up and running with their old configs.  Not to mention having to
> add the parser to all of the system programs and applications.
> Some of the code is "obscure".  We'd need significant buy-in from
> most of the maintainers, which could be pretty hard to come by.
> 
> But it would really help make the system easier to configure and
> to write tools that modify the settings.  So I still think that
> it would be worth the effort.
> 
> Well, I should get back to work.
> 
> Later,
> Tony