[Box Backup] Boxbackup suggestions

[Ben Summers]

On 30 Jan 2004, at 05:34, Pascal Lalonde wrote:

>>
>> I'd be interested in hearing any other experiences. It sounds like 
>> it's
>> quite an aggravating thing to install and use?
>>
> It's not that bad when you get to know what those exceptions mean...

I'll make a list and post it on the web site soon!

>
> Maybe a few "configure variables", or a config.h, to modify things like
> the install path, the default config file path, the default listening
> port, pid file...
>
> And to be able to specify some of these parameters on the command-line.

The approach I've taken is for

1) Most common options to be set on the command line of the *-config 
script.

2) Less common options to be set in the generated .config file.

3) Specify alternative config files on the command line as the first 
parameter, eg

	/usr/local/bin/bbstored /some/random/config/file.config

I think this basically covers everything. I wouldn't want there to be 
many options to the ./configure script, because otherwise you get into 
a situation where you don't quite know what the executable is 
configured to do. So each platform should have a known set of defaults.

Is this bad?

>
> There is something I don't quite understand: why do we have to specify
> the user in the config file if we do an "su" anyways? I don't know if
> I'm missing something or if you had the intention of dropping 
> privileges
> at startup, and the "su" is a temporary workaround?

The su was a temporary workaround for v0.01. Priviledges are dropped 
from v0.02 onwards -- I just missed altering the documentation to 
match.

>
> Of course, what I speak of here are mostly minor details. I think the
> most important things right now are error messages,

On the web site soon!

>  and maybe
> implementing a minimal "help" command in bbackupquery, to know the
> available commands quickly.

Agree on that one. I'm going to embed the contents of documentation.txt 
into the program as soon as I get around to writing the perl script to 
split it up nicely.

There's a lot of work here...

Ben