Re: Patch to add install action to packages:

[rader]

 > I like modules.  I use modules.  However, for this application,
 > something so basic to cfengine's functionality, I think a module would
 > be yucky.  Yes, that's a technical term.  Bolting on a <insert favorite
 > script language here> script to the cfengine distro does not seem like
 > the way to go.  

Sorry, I didn't mean to suggest that some script(s) get added to
the cfengine distro.  I don't want that to happen.

My intent was to simply point out that a somewhat workable way to
get cfengine to detect Linux distros already exists.


 > On top of that, don't you need to pre-declare the classes that a module
 > returns?  Perhaps that restriction is gone from current versions.

I don't know.  I have 

 control:
   addinstallable = ( [...] sl sl3 sl4 )
   [...]
   actionsequence = ( 
     [...]
     module:HasSL 
   )


 > Writing a small bit of relatively generic C code into cfengine to read
 > an easily modifiable text file that is distributed with cfengine,
 > containing the patterns, and their resulting classes, would probably be
 > the way to go here.

Nice. 

Perhaps it would be nicer if there was a distro detection mechanism
that uses .conf code for the distro mappings?

 distributions:
   redhat     file=/etc/redhat-release regex="Red Hat"
   redhat_7_3 file=/etc/redhat-release regex="Red Hat Linux release 7.3"
   sl         file=/etc/redhat-release regex="Scientific Linux"
   sl_3_0_4   file=/etc/redhat-release regex="Scientific Linux SL Release 3.0.4"

(Just a thought.  I'm all for just getting the job done, and I know
very, very little about other (non-RedHat based) distros.)

steve 
- - - 
systems & network manager
high energy physics
university of wisconsin