[ntp:questions] ntp.conf on FreeBSD

Rob nomail at example.com
Mon Oct 14 21:39:03 UTC 2013


unruh <unruh at invalid.ca> wrote:
> On 2013-10-14, Rob <nomail at example.com> wrote:
>> Steve Kostecke <kostecke at ntp.org> wrote:
>>> On 2013-10-12, unruh <unruh at invalid.ca> wrote:
>>>
>>>> That is good to hear, but does not solve the problem that ntp.conf is
>>>> there for the admin to make changes to in order to solve problems
>>>> peculiar to his system. I may not want the freebsd pool servers--
>>>> because they are bad or because they are too far away. I may want to set
>>>> up 5 (not 2) additional servers, some of which are refclock servers. To
>>>> have to edit an init.d file, whose purpose is to start ntpd, not to
>>>> configure it, is just supid. Somebody on the freebsd distro has no idea
>>>> what he is doing. 
>>>
>>> This is an issue with FreeNAS, not with FreeBSD.
>>>
>>> FreeNAS is an appliance, not a general purpose OS. These sorts of
>>> appliances often utilize a GUI to handle configuration tasks and store
>>> the resulting data in a custom data store. Configuration files, such as
>>> /etc/ntp.conf, are generated at the appropriate times from this data
>>> store.
>>>
>>> A real world example of the risks of relying on a GUI.
>>
>> No, a real world example of bad design.
>>
>> A GUI is fine but it should always manipulate the actual configuration
>> files, not some generic storage used to generate the files.  This mistake
>> has been made many times in the Unix world.
>>
>> This is why the Windows Registry is such a good idea.  You have a
>> universally accepted configuration store that both the GUI tools and
>> the relevant software can access and update.
>>
>> When FreeBSD (and Linux) had a registry, problems like this would not
>> occur.  ntpd would just read its configuration from the registry, and
>> it would be a breeze to change poolservers with either the GUI or the
>> generic registry editor, without confusing anyone.
>
> Linux has a registry. It is called /etc/
> Easily edited, not by some registry tool, but by any editor the user
> might want to use.

This has to be nominated the "unruh stupid comment of the month".



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