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No. A binary blob as a configuration store is unambiguously wrong. The difference between all the bins and all the sbins is clearly explained in the Linux Fil
by rosser 11y ago
No.
A binary blob as a configuration store is unambiguously wrong.
The difference between all the bins and all the sbins is clearly explained in the Linux Filesystem Hierarchy Standard. It's not Linux's (or UNIX's) fault if someone doesn't read or follow that.
- wvenable 11y agoI don't see why a strongly typed binary blob is worse than a mess of untyped randomly formatted configuration files. There might be an argument to be made but it's clearly not unambiguously wrong.
- smorrow 11y agodiff
- wvenable 11y agoYou can diff registry files and any subtree. You could diff the entire system if you wanted to. Yes, you do have to export to files but you still get one consistent format no matter how deep you want to go.
- beachstartup 11y agobecause when something gets corrupted, the damage is limited.
- pjc50 11y agoStrongly typed as long as your type is one of this very short list: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/bb773476(v=vs.85).aspx https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/bb7... In practice, almost everything is binary, string or DWORD. The world would have been a very different place if the registy had supported comment fields and/or online help.
- wallyhs 11y agoHere is a reason: You can view the configuration files and logs of a damaged system by mounting its disk in another system and using any old text editor. There is no need to install special tools.
- wvenable 11y agoI agree that's the advantage of text formats. Just as that's the advantage of text networking protocols over binary protocols (you can read them with wireshark or even use telnet). But you have to weigh that advantage over other advantages. If it was this simple, every database (and we are talking about a database here) would just be text to make recovery easier.
- wallyhs 11y agoI agree that you have to weigh the advantages, but we are talking about a special type of database. Most configuration data is read-only during normal operation. It's not as if anyone stores customer data in /etc or the Windows registry.
- Avshalom 11y ago'regedit' is not a special tool on windows. It's in every install of windows and you can use it open any registry file.
- wallyhs 11y agoSure, but what if my only Windows system won't boot? I am sure that I can access the registry from a Linux system somehow, but it's not as easy as invoking less or vim. That is especially true if the Linux system doesn't have a GUI. I don't need a GUI to read a text file.
- GauntletWizard 11y agoThe windows registry isn't a binary blob; It's a filesystem. A mountable, grow-and-shrinkable filesystem, that happens to be mounted from a loopback device. You can mount arbitrary SAM files at arbitrary paths in your windows registry (though I don't recommend ever doing it). This isn't really an argument for the windows registry (it's a whole separate filesystem just for configs? With none of the versioning, inheritance, whatever features you want for configs?), but it is another way to think of it.
- csours 11y agoRe: blob, please elaborate. Simply stating that something is wrong does not contribute to the discussion. Explaining a confusing standard does not make the standard clear or good.
- aaron695 11y ago> It's not Linux's (or UNIX's) fault if someone doesn't read or follow that. It's a very poor designer that blames their users.
- rosser 11y agoI'm not the designer. I'm a user, blaming other users, for not reading the fine manual. Would you call someone out writing a Windows application that didn't install its binaries under PROGRA~1? Same principle.