Re: environment variables vs defaults

[Jeff Sciortino]

I think this issue has been a problem with running a consistent, legal port 
on Debian, which I understand deplores the use of environment variables for 
some of the reasons you cited.

A few applications I use (namely cdrecord) use files in the directory 
/etc/defaults/ to record the defaults as an option to using environment 
varables. (e.g. cdrecord's defaults are in the file /etc/default/cdrecord ;-)

How hard would it be to integrate something like this into GNUstep? My (very 
limited) understanding is that it would make the Debian package much simpler.

Best Regards,

-Jeff

On Wednesday 03 January 2001 12:30, ian.mondragon@bankofamerica.com wrote:
> all -
>
>   while not *darwin* specific, i have been eagerly hacking away at
> prototype versions of a utility that would effectively utilize the user
> defaults database for setting environment variables in a shell-independant
> manner - but all of my work is currently being done using the GNUstep API
> as i don't have the $3000 to drop on the purty G4 i've been drooling over. 
> the project is in a horribly pre-alpha stage as i just started it the other
> week, but i'm sure that it would not be too much of a chore to port it over
> to OS X once it (a) is more of a reality and (b) has a mac to function on
> in my home.
>
> (yes, another ian)
> - ian mondragon
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From:       Ian P. Cardenas [SMTP:ian_cardenas@ultraviolent.com]
> > Sent:       Tuesday, January 02, 2001 1:41 PM
> > To: darwin-development@lists.apple.com
> > Subject:    environment variables vs defaults
> >
> > Hi all,
> >
> >     Has there been any discussion in providing OSX-style user defaults
> > to
> > traditional UNIX applications?  Specifically, there are things like cvs's
> > CVS_RSH environmental variable that I would like every cvs application
> > running for my user to have access to.  For a particular shell, I can
> > have
> >
> > this variable set in the .bashrc, .cshrc, etc.  However, if some
> > application that uses a different environment (or no shell, as in the
> > case
> >
> > of a Workspace launched process) launches cvs it will not have this
> > variable set.  What I think makes sense is to have some universally
> > available service for environmental variables.  Then there could be one
> > place that a user sets the variable and it would be available to all
> > shells
> > and all processes.  MacOS X provides exactly such a service in
> > CoreFoundation's Preference Services.
> >
> > http://developer.apple.com/techpubs/macosx/CoreFoundation/PreferenceServi
> >c es/Preference_Services/index.html
> >
> > Does anyone have any comments on how UNIX environment variables and
> > CoreFoundation could be integrated?  My initial thought was to do so at
> > the
> > getenv() level in stdlib.  If getenv was modified to do a Preference
> > lookup
> > upon a failure to locate a variable in the environment that would be a
> > simple method of integration.  This would allow a user to do something
> > like:
> >
> > defaults write cvs CVS_RSH ssh
> >
> >     What do other people think?  From looking at the projects list for
> > Darwin
> > it seems like CoreFoundation is not part of Darwin.  If that's correct,
> > this might only be of interest to MacOS X users.  Perhaps, I just see the
> > problem differently because of my background.  How do X11 apps launched
> > from a window manager handle this?
> >
> > --
> > Ian P. Cardenas
> > _______________________________________________
> > darwin-development mailing list
> > darwin-development@lists.apple.com
> > http://www.lists.apple.com/mailman/listinfo/darwin-development
>
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