Solving the /etc Situation?

mrfibbi asks: "/etc is a mess, plain and simple. Each program has its own (incompatible) config file format and the naming scheme/hierarchy is left almost solely to the author. Furthermore, package updates are a mess, either choosing to replace the entire config file, reject any updated versions (which leads to inconsistencies), or, as is the case with etc-update, asking the user to manually merge the files, which takes forever after a big update. We've revamped /dev with udev, but we've still failed to come up with a universal, duct-tape-free solution for the problem. Though solutions exist, there has been little or no adoption, either due to a personal dislike for the idea or API, or just an indifference to the problem. Should we work toward migrating to an Elektra-like system? Something else? Or do most simply find it not worth the trouble?"

Comments

Bigger Issue

[NullProg]

/etc is not an issue with LSB complant distributions.

A bigger issue is how we prevent less than average user from having thier linux machine become a host owned by the seedy people .

Maybe this isn't the forum, but it needs to be discussed. Not from the kernel or services perspective either, just from the Joe/Jane user context.

My thoughts?

- We should not pester the user too much. My parents turned off Zone Alarm because they got tired of the pop-up warnings. (I know you can turn it off, but I didn't and left and they disabled it).

- Any program that connects to the internet needs to su to a different user context after initialization (like apache, thttpd etc.). This should prevent the application from overriding the user files because of a bug/flaw.

- Programs not started by the user with a click or run command should not be allowed to execute. Could Gnome/Kde implement such a feature?

- After X login, I have a script that copies my .xinit/.xsession files from the hidden safe directory before kde/xfce/windowmaker start. Maybe this should be standard?

I don't know all the answers, this is just a topic for discussion. Lets start a thread on how you would implement user level safety while still enjoying the benefits of Linux.

Enjoy.