[4197] in RedHat Linux List
Re: /etc/rc.d/rc.local question (and Red Hat rant)
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Lance Cummings)
Wed Nov 13 09:18:06 1996
From: "Lance Cummings" <lance@iac.co.jp>
To: redhat-list@redhat.com
Date: Wed, 13 Nov 1996 23:12:30 +0900
CC: johnsonm@redhat.com
Resent-From: redhat-list@redhat.com
Reply-To: redhat-list@redhat.com
"Michael K. Johnson" <johnsonm@redhat.com> wrote:
>"Lance Cummings" writes:
>>I have something in this file after I install Colgate.
>>After I update according to RH's errata, however,
>>the file is completely empty. No other mods
>>were done. I have verified this on 2 machines.
>>
>>Normal? A problem?
>
>I've never seen it before. If anyone else has seen this, please let
>us know. If you have any idea which update caused it, please let us
>know that, as well. We will look into it.
>
>If you have zeroed it yourself, then (if it isn't changed between
>versions of the initscripts) it will stay zeroed as you upgrade
>initscripts.
No, I didn't zero it myself. I did no editing at all. I looked at
the file via cat, just to see if it was there, because I was going
to copy it -- as it had disappeared from my other machine. Instead,
I decided to do the errata first -- in order. When the errata finished
(I was unable to do them in the order they are presented on the
errata sheet, which after the missing file further alarmed me.), I went
to copy the file, but it was gone. Two machines, no editing. I'm new
to Linux, but I've been working with file systems and computers for
close to 15 years. Not as long as others, but I didn't nuke the file.
>>Why doesn't RH update the errata so that we know
>>what order in which to install the updates? Obviously,
>>some rpm updates conflict with others. Newbies
>>would like to know. Is this too much to ask RH, since
>>they are fond of telling everyone to "read the errata"?
>>It would be nice if the errata were a little more detailed.
>
>We've tried to put ordering constraints of which we are aware
>in there. We have applied them to our own machines in roughly
I appreciate this information. But <g> could you explain the
meaning of the word "roughly" in this situation? Does the
expression "half pregnant" come to anyone else's mind?
>the order they are listed. The places that we know about things that
>need to be done in a certain order, they are listed in that order in
>the step in question, and there's an explanation that the order needs
>to be followed. I think that's only true in one or two places.
Hmmmm. I'm sorry but the pam upgrade is called
for in step two. But when you arrive at step 32 you see that --
horrors -- there were some deletions that are called for before
the pam upgrade was to be installed. There are too many glitches
like that for a newbie to follow, IMHO. Your errata takes a wealth
of Unix and Linux information for granted. That's fine if all you
want to do is preach to the choir. But if you want the Linux
community to grow, you're going to have to write installation
documents that don't assume so much. You've got first-timers
coming in at the Colgate level, and your support is overwhelmed
partly because your documentation leaves something to be
desired. You need a newbie to proof-read some of your stuff.
(And no, I'm not asking for a job. <g> My wife won't
let me leave Tokyo.)
>>Why doesn't RH respond to their customer support
>>messages? I have received 2 ticket numbers -- but
>>no answers or other correspondence in two full
>>weeks. That means half my customer support is
>>out the window. Why do they think I paid them
>>50 bucks for a CD?
>
>We won't hold you to the 30 days when it is our fault that we
>haven't gotten back to you. We're not that mean (or stupid...).
Well, that's nice to hear. And that's the first word of this that I've be=
en
able to get from any official Red Hat source. For all the help I've
gotten directly from the company in nearly three weeks now, the
customer support seemed like a scam. Your automated responses
say wait 4-5 days. When nothing comes in more than two weeks,
people wonder. I'm sure you can understand that. Better to say
two-three weeks from the get go, don't you think?
>We're in the process of hiring more several more support staff
>members. We've got one new person now, and a few more who are
>coming in in a few weeks. We know about and very much regret
>the depth of the support queue, and most importantly, we are
>doing everything we can to shorten it, including hiring several
>new employees.
>
>>RH seems like a less wealthy version of Microsoft, to me.
>
>Yes, Microsoft certainly releases the source code to all
>their software, and they definitely make it all freely available via
>ftp and the web. Anyone can talk to their top-level developers via
>private email and on mailing lists. ;-)
Touch=E9. I deserved that. But that's what frustration will do to
you, I guess. Basically, I just wanted some attention so I can
get on with learning Linux. Sorry I struck such a low blow
to get it. That was out of line.
I hope you guys will think about laying out the docs a little
bit better for newbies, though. The errata really is a bit of a
horror show for newbies -- especially when things don't go
1 - 2 - 3. I don't think too many people who are new to Linux
are gonna argue with this. Suggestion: List according to update,
not according to fix on the errata. Or better, list both ways.
But listing by update, with the multiple fixes below might make
things clearer to newbies. And it might also help you guys to
arrange the installations so they don't conflict with each other.
(BTW, it was netcfg that glint barfed on at step 5. I kept trying
it after each subsequent update as I went down the list, but it
wouldn't go in until I installed pythonlib at step 17. HTH.)
Okay, the sake is kicking in. I'm calm now.
Best,
Lance
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